©ur Cburcb: 



WHAT METHODISTS BELIEVE, AND 
HOW THEY WOEK. 



BY 

JESSE LYMAN HURLBTJT, D. D. 




CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & PYE. 
NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS. 



! pTHE\i'BRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 
Two CopJt.s Received 

AUG. 4 1902 

~ COPYRIGHT ENTRY 

Ci .ASS O/ XXc. No. 

S n t r 4- 

COPY B. 



COPYRIGHT 1902, BY 
JENNINGS & PYE. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 



I. 


A FOREWORD TO THE YOUNG METH- 
ODIST, - 


• 7 


II. 


The Holy Catholic Church, 


16 


III. 


Our Place Among the Churches, 


• 26 


IV. 


The Methodist Family, 


34 


V. 


The Methodist System, 


43 


VI. 


The Faith of Our Fathers, - 


51 


VII. 


The Porch of Probation, - 


59 


VIII. 


The Witness of the Spirit, - 


68 


IX. 


The Higher Life, - 


■ 77 


X. 


The General Rules, - 


86 


XI. 


The Articles of Religion, 


■ 95 


XII. 


The Requisites for Church Mem- 





BERSHIP, - 102 

3 



4 


Contents. 




Chapter 
XIII. 


The Church Officiary, - 


Page 
- 112 


XIV. 


The Class-meeting, - 


121 


XV. 


The Local Preacher, 


- 131 


XVI. 


The Preacher in Charge, - 


142 


XVII. 


Our Itinerant Pastorate, 


- 151 


XVIII. 


The Presiding Elder, 


163 


XIX. 


The Methodist Episcopacy, - 


- 174 


XX. 


The Annual Conference, - 


187 


XXI. 


The General Conference, 


- 204 




Chronological Notes on Meth- 
odism, - 


217 




Outline Questions for Eeview, 


- 225 



PREFATORY. 



This book represents a work of prepara- 
tion carried through many years. While in 
the pastorate, and later in the general work 
of the Church, I have in several places con- 
ducted classes of young people for instruc- 
tion in the elements of Methodism as an 
institution. For these classes, held under 
different names, at different times, and in 
different localities, the contents of nearly all 
these papers were prepared in outline, and 
were given as addresses. When the Epworth 
League was organized, and the Epworth 
Herald was instituted as its organ, at the 
request of its editor, Dr. Joseph P. Berry, 
these informal talks were written as a series 

of articles. And now, again at the sugges- 
5 



6 jprefatorg* 

tion of Dr. Berry, they have been revised, 
enlarged, and assimilated into this volume, 
which, it is hoped, may give to the young 
Methodists of the Epworth League a clearer 
conception of their own Church and its prin- 
ciples, and may promote a more complete 
consecration to the Church's Head whom we 
serve. 

JESSE LYMAN HURLBUT. 

Morristown, New Jersey, 
July, 1902. 



OUR CHURCH: 



WHAT METHODISTS BELIEVE, AND 
HOW THEY WORK. 



A FOREWORD TO THE YOUNG METH- 
ODIST. 

There is standing in Copenhagen, Den- 
mark, one of the twelve masterpieces of 
sculpture, the Christ by Thorwaldsen. Who 
that has ever looked upon that form, 
wherein strength and beauty are blended, 
upon that calm, benignant face, and upon 
those outspread hands, alive to the finger- 
tips, will ever forget that almost matchless 
marble? It is said that once Thorwaldsen 
himself was found standing in front of this 
7 



8 



©ur Cburcb. 



statue with sorrowful face and tears falling 
from his eyes. They said to him: 

"Why should you, of all men in the world, 
weep in the presence of this work by your 
own hand? Other sculptors might well 
weep, as they realize that they can not equal 
it. But why should you shed tears ?" 

"I weep/* said the great artist, "because 
it seems to me absolutely perfect. Hitherto 
I have felt that every statue that I have 
made was below my powers. I could see de- 
fects in them all, and believed that I could 
improve upon any one of them. But as I 
look at this I can see no flaw or imperfection 
in it. It comes fully up to the ideal of 
Christ that is in my own mind, and that 
feeling makes me sure that I shall never 
carve another statue to surpass it, or even 
to equal it. I weep because I have touched 
the top of my powers, and henceforth only 
a decline awaits me." 

It was even so. Though many statues 



Zbc Courts .fl&etbo&tek 9 



came from his chisel afterward, and some 
of them were high in their artistic rank, yet 
none of them could be compared to his 
Christ. That stands alone among his sculp- 
tures as Thorwaldsen's masterpiece. 

You notice that the sculptor was leading, 
apparently, two distinct lives: the life of 
the real, that which he wrought, and the 
life of the ideal, the dream of perfection 
that was within his soul. We are all alike, 
though only a few men are great, and most 
of us are ordinary people. Every one of us, 
young and old, is leading these two distinct, 
yet inter-related lives. There is the life of 
the real — the things we do, the words we 
speak, the life we live; that life which we 
ourselves often feel is so poor, and narrow, 
and common; that life "the vulgar mass 
called work/' which others look upon and 
measure with "the world's coarse thumb and 
finger/' as Browning says. 

Why does this actual life of ours often 



10 



Owt Gburcb* 



look to us so mean and small ? It is because 
there is always moving on within us another 
life — the life of the ideal — that which we 
would be if we could. There rises before us 
the sculptor's dream of a noble life, what 
we would like to do and say. Earely did 
artist paint a picture without having a finer 
painting in his soul that he vainly strove to 
image forth. Earely did a minister preach 
a sermon so good that a better sermon was 
not struggling for utterance within him. 
To all noble natures there is an ideal which 
is the inspiration of the real. 

But what has all this to do with the Ep- 
worth League and with the young people of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, for whom 
these pages are written? Just this: That 
in the soul of every young Christian there 
is an ideal Christian life. In his highest 
moments it rises before him to inspire him; 
in his lowest moments it rises up to con- 



demn him. Every one of us has his ideal; 
and while our actual living will never rise 
up to it — will always fall below it — yet it 
is well to have that ideal large, and clear, 
and strong, as a banner in the sky. 

And now, in the first of these papers, let 
me give to every reader what I believe to 
be the true ideal for young Christians. It 
can be expressed in four words — spirituality, 
intelligence, loyalty, usefulness. If we 
could write one of these words upon each 
of the four arms of the Maltese cross that 
forms the badge of the Epworth League, they 
would together symbolize that completeness 
of Christian character toward which we are 
all aspiring. 

Spirituality is the first great requisite, 
that fine spark of the divine life, kindled 
to a flame, which makes the true Christian 
different from other people. We need the 
kingdom of God within us, a consciousness 



12 



<S>ur Gburcb* 



of sins forgiven, of peace with God, of the 
indwelling Spirit, of victory over the world, 
of salvation through Christ. 

But besides this element of spirituality, 
we need intelligence. No doubt God can 
enter into a nature that is very ignorant. 
Mere knowledge can never save a soul; but 
in our faith we should have thoughtfulness 
and understanding. "Knowledge is power," 
and in this age of schoolhouses, and colleges, 
and newspapers, and books, and public 
libraries, the Church must lead the way. If 
the day shall come when the non-church- 
going people know more and read more 
widely, and have a greater mastery of the 
problems of the age than the Church mem- 
bers and the Church attendants, that will 
be a dark day for Christianity. The religion 
that has power to win the world and to lead 
the world must be an intelligent religion, 
and such a religion our young people desire 
to possess. 



There is need, in our time, of loyalty in 
our Christianity. I do not refer to the senti- 
ment of loyalty to the Xation, for there is 
little danger that loyalty of that kind will 
decline, since the very air of this continent 
seems to inspire it. But in this age we need 
to strengthen the bonds that unite us with 
the Church, and with our own Church in 
particular. These chapters are written for 
the young people of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. I would write as strongly if I were 
addressing Baptists, or Protestant Episco- 
palians, or Presbyterians, or Congregational- 
ists, urging them to understand the system 
of their Church, to love their Church, and 
to be faithful to its obligations. But there 
is a special reason for an appeal to young 
Methodist Episcopalians in the fact that our 
Church is in many respects unlike all other 
Churches. There are no bishops like our 
bishops, no machinery of the same pattern 
as our own, no gathering in all the world 
2 



14 



©ur Gburcb* 



like a General Conference or an Annual Con- 
ference, no book of Discipline that reads as 
ours. And the young people of Methodism 
who know the most about their own Church 
do not love the other Churches less, but do 
love their own Church more. We would 
have in our ideal for our own young people 
a thorough knowledge of Methodism — how 
it arose, how it grew, the romance of its 
history, the simplicity and common sense 
of its doctrines, and the adaptation of its 
unique system to its great aim of winning 
the world to Christ. 

And to all this should be added the ideal 
of usefulness — a working Christianity — not 
the Christianity that sits in a chamber and 
reads Thomas a Kempis, or John Wesley's 
Journal, or the History of Methodism, and 
then says its prayers and goes to sleep, but 
the Christianity that, feeling the fire within, 
goes out to kindle the same fire in another 
soul; the Christianity that is in its seat at 



church on Sunday morning, and drops its 
share into the plate, and stays awake during 
the sermon; the Christianity that attends, 
not only the Epworth League meeting, but 
the Church prayer-meeting also, and has a 
prayer and a testimony in both; the Chris- 
tianity that takes a class in the Sunday- 
school, and takes a hand in the Mercy and 
Help Department, and stands up beside the 
president and the pastor in the work of the 
Church; the Christianity that lays upon the 
altar of the Church its service as well as 
its faith. 

If we can blend into one composite photo- 
graph these four qualities of the spiritual 
life, the intelligent mind, the loyal heart, 
and the working hand, and make that the 
portrait of the Epworth Leaguer, then ours 
will be indeed an ideal Christianity. 



II. 



THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHUKCH. 

"I believe in the holy catholic Church/' 
was said last Sunday morning by at least 
a million people in the United States of 
America, of whom perhaps three hundred 
thousand were members of our Church. If 
all our Churches were following the order of 
service recommended by the General Con- 
ference and given in the Discipline, a million 
members of our Church, assembled in their 
houses of worship, would have uttered these 
words, "I believe in the holy catholic 
Church, the communion of saints." 

I once heard of a little girl who persisted 
in giving, as her statement of this sentence 
in the creed, "I believe in the Holy Meth- 
16 



XLbt 1bols CatboUc Cburcb* 17 



odist Church/' and she gave for a reason, 
"I do n ? t believe in the Catholic Church, and 
I do believe in the Methodist Church." 

But there is a vast difference between the 
Roman Catholic Church and the holy cath- 
olic Church. The word catholic means "gen- 
eral," "universal," as the footnote to the 
Creed informs us, and the holy catholic 
Church is the general body of believers in 
Jesus Christ, found in all Churches. Who- 
ever believes in Jesus Christ with all his 
heart, submits his will to Christ, strives to 
follow him, and shares in the life of his 
Spirit, is a member of the holy catholic 
Church. He may also belong to the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, or to the Baptist, 
or to the Presbyterian, or to the Protestant 
Episcopal, or to the Eoman Catholic Church; 
but it is not his membership in any one of 
these Churches which brings him into liv- 
ing union with Christ. It is his relation 
to the holy catholic Church, "the general 



18 



©ur Gburcb, 



assembly and Church of the firstborn, whose 
names are written in heaven/' 

Some good people hesitate to use the term 
"the holy catholic Church/' thinking that 
it smacks too strongly of "Romanism/' or 
of Romanism's next-door neighbor, with an 
open door between them — "high Church- 
ism." But it is a good expression; it has 
a definite meaning; it is needed; it stands 
in the Apostles' Creed, the common platform 
of all the Churches; and it gives to the 
Church which can by common consent ob- 
tain the exclusive right to use it, a mighty 
power. Witness the effort which has been 
made for years in one of the smaller de- 
nominations to change its name to that of 
"The American Catholic Church." John 
Wesley said that he saw no reason why the 
devil should have all the best music, and 
we see no reason why any one Church should 
have the prestige of the name "The holy 



Gbe DolE Gatbollc Cburcb* 19 



catholic Church." It belongs to us all; let 
us all claim our share in it. 

This holy catholic Church is often and 
rightly called "the invisible Church," be- 
cause, while it is a real body, it has nothing 
that can be seen by the bodily eye. There 
is no cathedral-spire in the world to which 
one can point, saying, "That is the building 
of the holy catholic Church," for its mem- 
bers meet and worship in all church edifices. 
There is no form of Church government of 
which it can be said, "These are the orders 
of clergy and laity in the holy catholic 
Church," for it may exist under the forms 
of bishops and priests, or of elders and pres- 
byteries, or of Conferences, or of inde- 
pendent societies; for in reality it is apart 
from all forms of organization; it is a fel- 
lowship of souls, united in Christ, out of all 
the organized Churches. There are no 
"Articles of Eeligion," or any "confession of 



20 



©uc Gburcb. 



faith," or "catechism," of which any one has 
a right to say, "Here are the doctrines of 
the holy catholic Church set down in cold 
type to be read;" for those who belong to 
this Church do not always think and believe 
the same thing. 

I met a man who said to me: "There are 
nine hundred and eleven different kinds of 
religion in the world. I have examined them 
all, and find that every one of them holds 
some beliefs that are true, and some others 
that are false. If I had the time, I could 
make a statement of the truth concerning 
religion; but it would do no good, for people 
would still go on believing their own false 
opinions." 

That man believed that he knew what was 
the true doctrine of the holy catholic 
Church, and he was not the first man to 
believe and to claim such infallibility. The 
pope of Eome claims it, and so, I think, does 
a certain Dr. Dowie, in Chicago, who dresses 



Zbc f>ol£ Catbollc Gburcb. 21 



himself in a robe, and calls himself "the re- 
incarnation of the Prophet Elijah;" and, as 
I am informed, does a Mrs. Eddy, of Con- 
cord., Mass., who has published "A Key to 
the Holy Scriptures," telling those who 
think they understand her mystic — or, 
rather, misty — sentences, just what the Bible 
means. In fact, almost every little set of 
separatists begins by proclaiming its crowd 
"the true Church of Christ," and unchurch- 
ing everybody else. But the holy catholic 
Church shows its breadth by taking into its 
embrace even some of these narrow-minded, 
intolerant bigots, because, amid all their 
errors, they still love the Lord Jesus, and 
try, in their small way, to serve him. 

There is no book of discipline of which 
we have a right to say, "These are the rules 
and regulations of the holy catholic Church 
duly set forth, paragraphed, and indexed." 
They may say, "We believe that disciples 
of Christ need guidance, and admonition, 



22 



©ur Gbutcb, 



and restriction, and we think that these 
regulations will help to keep those who fol- 
low them in the way of life but they have 
no authority to limit the work of the Spirit 
and to claim infallibility in knowledge of 
duty. 

The holy catholic Church is the one 
apostolic Church, and the only apostolic 
Church, which has been in the world ever 
since the Holy Spirit descended upon the 
day of Pentecost. Its true succession is not 
perpetuated in any formal organization, but 
in the generations of earnest souls, vitally 
united to Jesus Christ, who have lived in 
the world since Christ ascended to heaven. 

These believers in Jesus Christ are or- 
ganized under various forms, none of which 
have any divine, exclusive right, but many 
of which can show good reasons for their 
existence. The truth of God is larger than 
the ideas of any one mind, or of any one 
society, and for its complete expression 



Gbe t>ol£ Catboltc Gburcb- 



23 



needs many bodies. Each body is "a 
Church," and if it can show sufficient reason, 
has a right to be considered a Church. But 
no one body has a right to arrogate to itself 
the title, "'The Church/* as if it were the 
only Church on the earth. 

''The holy catholic Church," then, is the 
one body of believers in Jesus Christ, the 
kingdom of Christ on earth, and "the 
Churches" are the organized forms under 
which Christ's followers are marshaled. The 
holy catholic Church consists mainly, but 
not wholly, of the members of "the 
Churches;''' for there are doubtless many 
true followers of Christ who are not attached 
to any organization. And, on the other 
hand, "the Churches" consist mainly, but not 
wholly, of Christ's true followers: for there 
are doubtless many names enrolled upon the 
lists of the organized Churches which are 
not written in the book of life. 

We may represent "the Church" and "the 



24 



©ur Gburcb, 



Churches" by two circles of the same size, 
each crossing the other, and each including 
perhaps two-thirds of the other. There will 
be a part of each circle which is inside the 
other, and common to both, and there will 
also be a part of each circle which is out- 
side the other. That middle segment, which 
belongs to both circles, will represent those 
members who belong at once to the invisible 
holy catholic Church, and to some one of 
the organized Churches. One of the outside 
sections will represent those who belong to 
Christ and to Ms Church, but do not belong 
to any of "the Churches," and the other will 
represent the professing Church members 
who do not possess Christ. None but the 
All-wise Head of the Church knows precisely 
what are the relative proportions of these 
three segments, or what names belong to 
them. 

Let every member of the Epworth League 



Zbc 1bolE Catbolic Cbutcb* 25 



make sure his own place in the inner orb, 
which represents at once his membership in 
the earthly Church and the heavenly. One 
of these Churches may be of great help to 
us all, but the other is absolutely essential 
to our salvation. 



III. 



OUR PLACE AMONG THE CHURCHES. 

It is customary for the newspapers and 
for some public speakers to refer to the dif- 
ferent denominations of Christians as if they 
were armies drawn up in battle array against 
each other, and spending upon one another 
the energies that ought to be turned against 
sin and Satan. Occasionally some clergy- 
man of one of the smaller sects will lift up 
his voice against "the divisions of Christian- 
ity" and in behalf of "the seamless robe of 
Christ/' which always means his Church. 
He will perhaps suggest that if all will unite 
on his little platform the great wound of the 
Church will be healed. 

In reality, the different Churches of our 
time are not armies at war. They are the 
26 



©ur place among tbe Cburcbes, 27 

different army corps of one great host. Un- 
doubtedly there have been ages of strife be- 
tween denominations, and two generations 
ago preachers spent much strength in con- 
troversy. I remember, in my boyhood, an 
aged local preacher, a survival of an earlier 
generation, who, in his sermon, whatever the 
text or the theme might be, was always sure 
to give a whack at "the apostolical succes- 
sion" and "the five pints of Calvinism." 
What the apostolical succession was, and 
why Calvinism did not possess an even two 
quarts instead of "five pints," I did not fully 
understand. But even then, in the fifties, 
discourses of a combative sort were quite in- 
frequent; and no one ever hears them now, 
unless in very remote places, where the rail- 
road has not brought modern ideas, and 
where the people are still voting for General 
Jackson. In our time there is a comfortable 
state of peace among the Churches. 

To choose a more peaceful and better 



28 



©ur Gburcb. 



illustration, the different Churches of Prot- 
estantism are the different families dwelling 
each under its own roof in the same com- 
munity, not in strife, but in friendship. The 
fact that my neighbor and I choose not to 
live in the same house is no evidence that 
we are quarreling with each other; we may 
be the best of friends, sitting together, with 
enjoyment, at each other's fireside and 
around each other's table. 

Some point to the external unity of the 
Roman Catholic Church, and contrast it with 
the varied organizations of Protestant 
Church life. To claim that the unity of 
Eomanism is a higher condition than the 
diversity of Protestantism is to set up the 
Mexican pueblo, with its hundred families 
under one roof, as a higher type of civiliza- 
tion than the Anglo-Saxon village, where 
each household has its own cottage. 

We need most of these Churches, and even 
the sect that seems to me unnecessary may 



Qnt place among tbe Cburcbee* 29 

seem to another man, as good and as wise 
as I, exceeding needful. Nearly all the 
Churches arose out of questions upon which 
strong thinkers took opposite sides; and 
now, after the old quarrel has passed away, 
and peace reigns between both companies, 
the harmony of the holy catholic Church 
can best be maintained by leaving the dif- 
ferent organizations, no longer as foes, but 
as friendly workers for the common cause. 

There are three principles that enter into 
the establishment and perpetuation of the 
various Churches. These principles relate 
either to doctrine, to method, or to spirit. 
Doctrine is what the Church believes; method 
has reference to its form and plan of 
management as an organization; and spirit 
is a certain indefinable quality of life which 
it manifests. 

Some Churches are alike in doctrine, but 
different in method, as the Presbyterian and 
Congregational. Substantially, both these 
3 



BO 



®ur Gburcb* 



Churches hold the same belief; but one is 
organized according to a plan which brings 
every local Church under the joint control 
of all the Churches of the same order, col- 
lectively, while the other leaves each local 
Church to manage its own affairs. 

There are Churches which have the same 
doctrine, but not the same spirit, as the 
Methodist and Moravian. The Congrega- 
tional and Baptist Churches are precisely 
alike in their method or form of organiza- 
tion, for in both bodies each local Church 
is a law unto itself; but they differ widely 
in both doctrine and spirit. On the con- 
trary, the Baptists and the Methodists, 
though wide apart in both doctrine and 
method, are remarkably alike in their spirit. 

In doctrine, the Churches may be lined 
up either on the Calvinistic or the Arminian 
side in their views of God's government. 
Both these names are taken from those of 
great opposing leaders of thought in the six- 



©ur place among tbe Gbutcbes, 



31 



teenth century, John Calvin, of Geneva, and 
James Arminius, of Holland. The Calvin- 
ists lay stress on the sovereignty of God, as 
having ordained or decreed all things that 
come to pass, while Arminians emphasize the 
freedom of man's will. The Presbyterians, 
the Dutch Eeformed, the Baptist, and the 
Congregational Churches are all Calvinistic, 
while the Methodists are Arminian. 

There are three methods of Church gov- 
ernment: the congregational, in which each 
society is independent of all others, and 
recognizes no authority higher than its own 
membership; the presbyterian, in which the 
Churches are associated and controlled by a 
governing body, yet recognizing no ministers 
of higher rank and authority than the pas- 
tors of Churches; and the episcopal, which 
allows the rule of chief pastors, or superin- 
tendents, who are called bishops. 

Of these three forms, our Church is 
episcopalian, for we have bishops. Yet we 



32 



©ur Cburcb* 



do not regard our bishops as a higher order 
than other ministers, as the Protestant 
Episcopalians do. Ours might be regarded 
as a sort of Presbyterian-Episeopalianism, 
for we consider our bishops as presbyters, 
or elders, holding an office, and not as be- 
longing to a separate order in the ministry. 

In former times, Methodism was distin- 
guished from other Churches no less by its 
spirit than by its doctrines and methods. 
A peculiar fervor, enthusiasm, and vigor 
characterized all the exercises of our Church. 
One would at once recognize a Methodist 
meeting by the energy with which the preach- 
ing, singing, prayer, and testimony were car- 
ried on. "AH' at it, and always at it," was 
the motto of John Wesley and the practice 
of the early Methodists. "Methodism is 
Christianity in earnest," said Thomas Chal- 
mers, the great Scottish preacher. To some 
extent this trait is still prominent; but we 
have toned down and our fellow-Christians 



©ur place among tbe Gburcbes* 



33 



of the other Churches have toned up, and in 
spirit the evangelical Churches are nearer 
alike than formerly. But even now a Meth- 
odist prayer-meeting, whether in New Eng- 
land, or Ohio, or Oregon, has generally a 
distinct flavor which will be found in no 
other Church. 

To sum up : Methodism is Arminian in its 
doctrine, episcopal in its method, and 
fervent in its spirit, and with these traits 
it holds a recognized and useful place in 
the communion of the Churches. 

President Lincoln closed a brief address 
to a deputation which gave him the loyal 
greeting of our Church, in these words, 
which were worthy of the man, and fitting 
words for us all: "God bless the Methodist 
Church; God bless all the Churches; and 
blessed be God, who giveth us the Churches !" 



IV. 



THE METHODIST FAMILY. 

There are Churches, as there are families, 
which lay great stress upon their antiquity. 
If an Englishman can point to an ancestor 
who "came over with the conqueror/' and 
had his name in the Domesday Book, he 
holds his head a little higher than his neigh- 
bor, whose family line can not be traced 
above the eighteenth century. So some 
Churches claim an uninterrupted sucesssion 
of prelates from the times of Henry VIII, 
or of Saxon Egbert, or of the Emperor Con- 
stantine. 

Methodism makes no claim of precedence 
among the Churches by reason of its age. 
Although the principles upon which it is 
founded are as old as the New Testament, 
34 



Gbe jflfcetbo&ist jfamil£* 35 



and its spiritual life is in the genuine apos- 
tolical succession, yet as a distinct organiza- 
tion it is less than one hundred and fifty 
years old. It is the greatest in membership 
of all the Protestant families; but it is also 
the youngest, for when John Wesley organ- 
ized his first Society, in 1739, the Church of 
England, apart from Eome, had been estab- 
lished for two hundred years, the Presby- 
terian Church, which is of Scottish origin, 
had been at work for one hundred and sev- 
enty years, the Congregationalist Churches 
for one hundred and forty years, and the 
Baptist Churches for one hundred and thirty 
years. All the great Churches of our time 
had the start of Methodism from one hun- 
dred to two hundred years. Yet out of the 
"handful of corn" planted in 1739 there has 
grown a harvest of souls far greater than 
that garnered in any other Church. 

Another noticeable fact in the growth of 
Methodism is that it has sprung from one 



36 



Out Gburcb* 



man. Protestant Episcopalians would not 
admit that Henry VIII was the father of 
their Church, though he might be regarded 
as a rather harsh foster-father. All the 
Presbyterians are not spiritual descendants 
of John Knox, nor are the Congregational- 
ists altogether sprung from John Robinson, 
nor the Baptists from John Smyth. These 
men were Church founders, but none of 
them were Church fathers. But the first 
class-meeting of John Wesley consisted of 
people whose spiritual life had been awak- 
ened by his teaching. They were his "con- 
verts," for he had led them to Christ. And 
all the millions of people who have been 
brought into the Methodist Churches in 
England, in America, in Australasia, in the 
isles of the sea, and in the mission-fields, are 
in the direct spiritual succession from John 
Wesley. Methodism owes to other Churches 
a smaller number of its members than its 
sister denominations owe to Methodism. It 



Gbe jflfcetboDist jfamilE* 37 



has received few, but it has given many. 
For one member who has come to us from 
other Churches we have sent ten as our 
contribution to our sister denominations. 
But, notwithstanding our youth, notwith- 
standing our large gifts of members to other 
Churches, ours is the largest body of be- 
lievers in the Anglo-Saxon Protestant world. 
There are in all, according to the latest 
statistics, not less than seven millions 
of members in the various branches of 
Methodism throughout the lands. If we 
counted as members all those baptized in 
childhood, as some other Churches count 
theirs, the total of Methodist population in 
the world would be at least fifteen millions. 
All this vast multitude has grown out of 
the work of one man, and all in one hun- 
dred and sixty years. Truly may we say, 
"What hath God wrought!" 

Although these millions, be they six or 
fifteen, are not gathered within the doors 



38 



©ur Gbutcb* 



of one Church, they are in what might be 
called the Methodist family of Churches, a 
group of denominations of common origin, 
uniform belief, similar systems of organiza- 
tion, and, whatever may be said of the 
past, now living together in amity. There 
are in England and her sister isles seven de- 
nominations regarding themselves as Meth- 
odists; and in the United States there are 
seventeen. 

Methodism might be likened to the 
banyan-tree of India, whereon the limbs 
growing out from a central trunk drop down 
shoots which take root in the earth, so that 
in time one tree becomes a forest, knitted 
together by branches above and by interlac- 
ing roots below. The original stock, planted 
all unconsciously by John Wesley — for at 
the time he did not dream that he was 
founding a Church — was known first as "the 
United Societies/' then as "the Wesleyan 
Methodist Society," and now as "the Wes- 



Zhe /fcetbo£>i5t 3famtf£. 39 



leyan Methodist Church." It includes about 
720,000 members at home and in its mission- 
fields. From it have grown eight or nine in- 
dependent branches in Great Britain and 
her colonies, with nearly 700,000 members. 

Whether the banyan-tree of India ever 
puts forth branches larger than its trunk 
I know not; but the tree of Methodism has 
reached across the ocean and planted shoots 
on this continent which are far greater than 
its original English stock. There is the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, begun in 1766, 
and organized as a Church in 1784, now em- 
bracing 2,948,137 members (nearly three mil- 
lions), according to that useful little pamph- 
let, which should be in the hand of every 
young member, "The Methodist Year-book" 
of 1902. Next comes the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, which in 1901 had 1,470,520 
members. Then follow two Churches com- 
posed of Americans of African descent, the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church, of 



40 



©ur Gburcb. 



675,462 members, and the African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion, with 536,271 members. Our 
brethren in black have divided and sub- 
divided and grown until they have eight or 
nine organizations for their sixteen hundred 
thousand members. 

With regard to these shoots from the 
family tree, one remarkable fact should be 
noted: Independent as they are of each 
other, they all hold to the same doctrines, 
they are all organized upon the same gen- 
eral plan, and they all share in the same 
spirit. Many as are the divisions of Meth- 
odism, not one has ever been made upon, 
doctrinal grounds. Some have been caused 
by location, as the Churches of Canada, of 
Australia, and the organization of our own 
Church in 1784, some were engendered 
through the strife of politics in the days of 
the slavery agitation, which set off the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, from the 
parent body; some have been caused by dif- 



Zbc dftetbofctet jfamilg. 41 



ferences of opinion with regard to the gov- 
ernment of the Church, as when the Meth- 
odist Protestant Church withdrew on ac- 
count of its opposition to the episcopacy, 
and started its own Church without bishops. 

Some of these divisions were made in 
peace, while others were attended with hard 
feelings and harsh words ; but all enmity be- 
tween the different branches of the family 
has long ago passed away. We are all 
brothers now, sending to each other fra- 
ternal delegates, meeting together in 
"Preachers' Meetings," and working to- 
gether in revivals. Once in ten years a great 
"Ecumenical Conference" is held, of repre- 
sentatives from every branch of Methodism 
in all lands, of all colors, and of every plan 
of organization. This gathering of a world- 
wide Methodism has no authority over the 
Churches to which its several members be- 
long, but it illustrates the unity of the spirit 
in the bond of peace which each branch of 



42 



©ur Gburcb* 



the great Methodist tree cherishes toward 
all the other branches. 

We may justly claim., as a family, to ex- 
emplify the three great principles asserted 
by our founder: "In essentials, unity; in 
non-essentials, liberty; in all things, 
charity." 



V. 



THE METHODIST SYSTEM. 

There is a word often seen in Methodist 
literature and often spoken in the debates 
at Methodist Conferences. It is the word 
"connectional." We call ours "a con- 
nectional Church;" we appeal to "the con- 
nectional spirit." By this we mean the 
strong bond which unites each member, not 
merely to his own local Church, but to the 
whole Church; that bond which combines all 
parts of the Church into one solid institu- 
tion. Let us look at the links which con- 
stitute this chain. 

Its unit is the individual member. Ac- 
cording to the plan of Methodism, he be- 
longs to a class and is under the care of a 
leader. His class is not a confessional, and 
43 



44 



©ur Cburcb* 



his leader is not a priest; but in the class- 
meeting a little band of Christians are united 
to help each other in the life of godliness, 
and the leader is a subpastor. In the early 
days the leader was a necessity, for the pas- 
tor was an "itinerant," traveling a "circuit," 
and coming to each appointment only once 
in a fortnight, or even only once in a month. 
During the intervals of pastoral visitation 
each leader watched over his little flock, met 
all the members in the weekly class-meet- 
ing, listened to the story of their experience, 
counseled them according to their needs, 
received and kept account of their contri- 
butions to the Church, and held them all in 
close relation to the body of believers. 
There are thousands of charges where the 
class system is still maintained, notably in 
England and in Canada, where every mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church is a member 
of a class. But in many sections it has been 
suffered to lapse, and the Church feels the 



Gbe ZlbetboDtet extern* 45 



need of it in the lack of discipline. Never- 
theless, this generation of Methodists, even 
though it does not attend class as its fathers 
did, inherits a certain esprit de corps which 
is the result of the old system. 

A number of these classes are united to 
form what the Discipline, or Book of Eules, 
of our Church calls "a charge" or "an ap- 
pointment," by which is meant the local 
Church. This local Church is supervised by 
a pastor and three different boards — the 
leaders, the stewards, and the trustees. The 
leaders watch over the religious interests of 
the Church members, all of whom they are 
supposed to know; the stewards care for the 
business of the Church as a Society, and see 
that the pastor is supported; and the trus- 
tees are the legal corporation holding the 
property in trust. Often these three boards 
are united into one body, called "the Official 
Board," consisting of all the leaders, 
stewards, and trustees, the superintendent of 
4 



46 



©ur Cburcb* 



the Sunday-school, the president of the Ep- 
worth League, and any local preachers in the 
local membership. And once in three 
months all these official members constitute 
the Quarterly Conference, at which the pre- 
siding elder is chairman, and all the work 
of the Church in every department is thor- 
oughly canvassed. This Quarterly Confer- 
ence, which no person except the presiding 
elder can call together, is the highest author- 
ity in the local Church, and supervises every 
worker and all his work. 

A number of contiguous and accessible 
charges or appointments are united to form 
a district, which is generally named after its 
largest city or town, as "the Newark Dis- 
trict/' "the Springfield District/' "the 
Booneville District/' etc. Over these is 
placed a presiding elder, appointed by the 
bishop. The presiding elder travels 
through his district, which may include 
twenty, thirty, or forty Churches. He 



Cbe /foetboDtet System. 47 



preaches as often as four times each year 
in all the pulpits, not as a visitor by invita- 
tion, but as "the officer of the day," on a 
date fixed by himself. He holds the Quar- 
terly Conferences, looks into the affairs of 
each Church, sees where the work can be 
strengthened, provides for new openings, 
and takes charge or sends his representative 
if at any time the pulpit of a Church be- 
comes vacant. The presiding elder is the 
supervisory link between the "preacher in 
charge" and the bishop. 

A number of these districts are united to 
form an Annual Conference. There may be, 
in a sparsely-settled State or Territory, a 
Conference of but one District, and twenty 
preachers; or the Conference may have eight 
or nine districts, and nearly three hundred 
preachers. The Annual Conference is made 
up of the ministers, and, as its name indicates, 
it is held every year, lasting nearly a week. 
Here the work of all the Churches is re- 



48 



©ur Gbutcb* 



viewed, reported upon, and approved or cen- 
sured as the conditions may require, in a 
series of questions provided by the law of 
the Church, and asked by the presiding 
officer. And this presiding officer is not 
chosen by the Annual Conference itself. He 
is a subbishop, outside of the Conference's 
jurisdiction, and amenable to a higher 
power. Thus his supervision is not in danger 
of being influenced by the votes of the min- 
isters in the Conference. 

That "higher power" is the General Con- 
ference, which is at once the Supreme Court, 
the Congress, and the Executive of the 
Church. It is the only body that makes 
laws for the Church, that interprets those 
laws, and that chooses the bishops who are 
to enforce them. Under the auspices of the 
General Conference, all the work of the An- 
nual Conferences is reviewed, and the entire 
machinery of the Church is controlled. Even 
the bishops, who have vast powers elsewhere, 



Gbe .flbetbofctet System, 49 



are the servants of the General Conference, 
whose arms reach around the world. This 
is the last link in the chain of supervision 
which makes ours "a connectional Church." 

The Methodist Episcopal system might be 
represented by a pyramid. On the top stands 
a stone which represents the individual mem- 
ber; under it lies a larger block, the class 
with its leader; below this is one still larger, 
the local Church, or "charge," having its 
pastor and Quarterly Conference; under the 
Church is a lower and larger course, the dis- 
trict, with its presiding elder; still lower 
down is the Annual Conference, and its pre- 
siding bishop; and, as the basis of all and 
supporting all, is the General Conference, 
which represents and controls the entire 
body of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

If anybody wishes to serve the Lord ac- 
cording to his own will, to fight "on his own 
hook," as did white-hatted John Burns 
at Gettysburg, according to the poefs story, 



50 



©ur Cburclx 



the Methodist Episcopal Church is no place 
for him. He will form an independent 
Church of one member, and perhaps he may 
do some good on earth, and may find his way 
to heaven; but he is not the kind of man 
needed in our Church. 

A clergyman who had left our Church for 
another where he might be "free/' objected 
to a confession of faith in his new surround- 
ings, saying that he "had taken his neck 
out of one ecclesiastical collar, and was not 
going to put it into another." This is all 
very well if one is to be a wild ass in the 
wilderness; but if he purposes to pull a load, 
he must put himself into some sort of a har- 
ness. The system of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church is admirably adapted to members 
and ministers who are willing to bear bur- 
dens, to bring things to pass, to build up 
others, and to be built up themselves. 



VI. 

THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Ox Saturday, June 5, 1742, the Rev. John 
Wesley, thirty-nine years old, and the most 
widely-known clergyman in England, came 
to Epworth, his birthplace, the village where 
his father had been rector of the Church 
for forty years, and where John Wesley had 
been his father's assistant for two years. 
He staid at the village inn, and the next 
day, Sunday, June 6th, at six o'clock in the 
evening, stood on his father's tomb, beside 
the east door of the Church, and preached 
to such a congregation as Epworth had never 
seen before. 

But why should John Wesley use his 
father's grave as a pulpit? Was it because 
the congregation was so great that the little 
51 



52 



®ur Cburcb* 



church could not contain it; or was it an 
affectation, an effort to attract attention by 
preaching in an unusual place? It was 
simply because the Eev. John Wesley, Master 
of Arts and Fellow of Lincoln College, an 
ordained clergyman of the Church of Eng- 
land, was regarded by most of his fellow- 
clergyman, including the Eev. Mr. Eomley, 
the then curate of Epworth, as a dangerous 
heretic, and as a heretic he had been shut 
out of all except half a dozen pulpits in 
England. 

He had presented himself to the curate at 
the hour of worship, robed as a clergyman, 
and had offered to assist in the service. But 
he had been denied any recognition, and had 
heard a pointed sermon from the curate on 
the dangers of enthusiasm in religion. As 
the congregation passed out, a friend of Mr. 
Wesley announced at the church-door, "Mr. 
Wesley, not being permitted to preach in the 
church, designs to preach here at six o'clock." 



Zbc Jattb of ©ur jfatbers* 



53 



And he did preach, standing outside the 
church-door, on his father's tomb, from the 
text, "The kingdom of God is not meat and 
drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy 
in the Holy Ghost." 

What was that terrible heresy which John 
Wesley believed and proclaimed, and which 
caused nearly all the church-doors of Eng- 
land to be closed against him? It was his 
firm conviction of four doctrines, which he 
held with all his heart and preached with 
all his might. Those doctrines were the fol- 
lowing : 

First. That all men may be saved; that 
J esus Christ died, not for a chosen and elect 
few, who had been appointed to be saved, 
while the mass of mankind had been left to 
perish. This is the doctrine of universal re- 
demption. 

Secondly. That every soul makes Ms own 
choice for salvation or for condemnation; 
that we are not machines, predestined to run 



54 



©ur Gburcb* 



a certain course, and doing only what fate 
has ordained us to do, but that each one of 
us stands within a circle of personal choice, 
and decides for himself whether to accept 
Christ or to reject him. This is the doctrine 
of the freedom of the will. 

Thirdly. That a soul which has been for- 
given of its sins, has entered into peace with 
God, and is accepted in Christ as a child 
of God, may possess, also, the assurance of 
Ms salvation stamped upon his own con- 
sciousness; that no one need remain in doubt 
whether he is saved or not. This is the 
doctrine of the witness of the Spirit. 

Fourthly. That it is the privilege of every 
follower of Christ to be made perfect in love 
toward God and man, to serve God with all 
his heart, and to obtain complete victory 
over sin. This is the doctrine of entire sanc- 
tification. 

These four doctrines, the universality of 
redemption, the freedom of the will, the wit- 



Zbc 3faitb of ©ur ffatbers. 



55 



ness of the Spirit, and entire sanctification, 
are the four fundamental articles in the faith 
of our fathers, as preached by John Wesley, 
as accepted and experienced by his followers, 
the early Methodists, and as attested by 
every generation of Methodist preachers and 
Methodist people, without material change, 
from the opening page of Methodist history 
until the present day. 

Not one of these great truths was a living 
article of faith when John Wesley began to 
proclaim them. They were combated by 
theologians, they were branded as fanatical 
and heretical by the clergy, high and low, 
and they were ignored in the religious life 
of the nation. 

Susannah Wesley, the mother of John Wes- 
ley (a woman whom Adam Clarke, the com- 
mentator, declared to be the highest modern 
example of "the excellent woman" described 
in the last chapter of Proverbs), told her 
son that in all her life, as the daughter of 



56 



©ur Cburcb* 



one clergyman and the wife of another, she 
had never heard a sermon on "the witness 
of the Spirit," and had known only a very 
few people who claimed to enjoy it. 

But when Wesley out of his own experi- 
ence began to preach these truths, there was 
an instant response to them in the heart of 
the people. Everywhere the religious spirit 
began to awake ; societies were formed of be- 
lievers who accepted and enjoyed this type 
of Christianity, and realized its power in 
their own consciousness. During his long life, 
in a ministry of more than fifty years after 
"his heart was strangely warmed" in 1738, 
John Wesley preached fourteen thousand 
sermons, and every sermon was a setting 
forth of the privilege to a salvation for all, 
a free salvation, a salvation felt, and a full 
salvation. And he lived long enough to find 
these doctrines anchored in the heart of the 
Church and accepted by Christians of every 
creed; long enough to be welcomed in all 



XZbe jfaitb ot ©ur jFatbevs* 



57 



the pulpits of England as an apostle of the 
true faith; long enough even to record in 
his Journal, though late in life, that he had 
a delightful season of communion with that 
same Eev. Mr. Komley, curate of Epworth. 

These four doctrines, the universality of 
salvation, the freedom of the will, the wit- 
ness of the Spirit, and entire sanctification, 
are the distinctive doctrines of Methodism 
throughout the world. Xone the less are 
they our peculiar heritage, because they have 
triumphed over opposition, and are now the 
accepted faith of all evangelical Churches. 
They are in the hymnals, in the sermons, 
in the prayer-meetings, in the testimonies 
of the entire Anglo-Saxon Protestant world. 
But while other Churches have slowly 
changed their attitude toward these doc- 
trines, from opposition to acceptance, have 
gradually adopted them in their preaching 
and their experience, and are even now try- 
ing the hard task of reconciling with them 



58 



®ur Gburcb* 



their ancient hard and fast "confessions of 
faith," our Church, on both sides of the sea, 
has held these doctrines continuously, and 
preaches them, unchanged, to-day; for the 
faith of our fathers is still the faith of their 
sons. 



VII. 



THE POECH OP PEOBATIOK 

There is one peculiar plan of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church with which every 
new member comes into relation immediately 
upon his profession of faith in Christ. Un- 
like all the other Christian bodies, we do 
not receive the new disciple of Christ at 
once into full fellowship. He must stand 
for six months in the porch of the temple 
as "a probationer" before the door is opened 
for him to enter into complete membership. 

The probationer is a person who is neither 
quite in the Church, nor altogether outside 
of it. He is standing in the vestibule, with 
the outer door shutting him out from the 
world, and the inner door not yet opened 
to admit him into the Church. He is "on 
59 



60 



©ur Gburcb* 



trial" in two ways: for he is holding the 
Church on trial until he can ascertain to 
a certainty whether he believes in its doc- 
trines, is satisfied with its system, and is at 
home with its spirit; and the Church is hold- 
ing him on trial until he shall, by contin- 
uance in well-doing, show himself worthy of 
membership. In his period of probation he 
may find, upon closer acquaintance, that the 
Church holds views which he can not accept, 
or requires standards of conduct which he 
is unwilling to adopt. And, on the other 
hand, six months may show that the man is 
not a true disciple of Christ, that instead of 
being converted in heart, he has been only 
moved in his emotions, and that he has no 
true affiliation with the people of God. 

The probationer is a twig grafted on the 
tree of the Church. If it has life, the twig 
and the tree soon become one, and each adds 
something to the other — the tree is richer 
by the life of the twig, and the twig is 



Gbe lporcb of probation 61 



stronger by the life of the tree. But if it 
be a dead branch, there is no true union; it 
soon drops off and falls to the ground; 01% if 
it be merely tied on from the outside it must 
be untied and taken away. 

Apparently the probationary system is 
peculiar to Methodism. No other Church in 
its rules requires a period of several months' 
waiting at the door before membership. 
Yet practically the same plan prevails 
among all the denominations. In some, 
those who are under consideration for mem- 
bership are organized into "confirmation 
classes" until trained for the vows of the 
Church. In other folds there is either a 
voluntary delay on the part of the newly- 
converted person in making application for 
membership, or else he is allowed to wait 
until his resolution has become fixed or his 
change of character is evident. It will be 
found, upon inquiry, that the period of wait- 
ing outside the doors of other Churches is 
5 



62 



©ur Gburcb, 



nearly or quite as long as the period of pro- 
bation in our own. And with others, this is 
literally "outside the Church/' without its 
care, its obligations, its sacraments, or its 
privileges. But among us, while technically 
a period of waiting, it is in reality a period 
of nurture and training and supervision, pre- 
paring the candidate for the vows which are 
yet to be assumed. 

All that is required of a person in order 
to become a probationer is "a desire to flee 
from the wrath to come and to be saved 
from his sins." He is not required to have 
been converted, to have a conscious experi- 
ence of his own salvation, or to have any 
knowledge of the Church, its doctrines, or 
its organization, or its regulations. He may 
be an inquirer, not yet consciously con- 
verted, or he may have been converted five 
minutes before joining on probation. In- 
stances are on record of men who came to a 
revival-meeting open enemies of the gospel, 



Zbc ©orcb of probation* 63 



and left it members of the Church on pro- 
bation, having passed through the stages of 
sin, conviction, repentance, faith, and assur- 
ance of pardon all within an hour. 

But as soon as the young Christian is re- 
ceived upon probation he finds that his privi- 
leges and his obligations begin. If not al- 
ready sure that he is forgiven and accepted 
as a child of God, he must seek at once 
the witness of the Spirit to his salvation; 
he must begin at once to show the fruits of 
grace in his daily living, to renounce the 
wrong and to do the right; he should attend 
the public means of grace, the worship on 
the LordVday, the prayer-meeting, and the 
class-meeting: he should take part in the 
Epworth League, both by his presence and 
his testimony; he should observe private 
prayer, and should read daily the Word of 
God; he should acquaint himself with the 
Discipline of the Church, that he may know 
just what it believes and just how it is or- 



64 



©ur Cburcb* 



ganized; he must receive the seal of bap- 
tism, if he has not received it before, and 
after that take the pledge of fidelity to 
Christ in the holy communion. His six 
months of probation are not to be passed 
in waiting for a door to open, but in pre- 
paring himself worthily to enter that door 
into the holy fellowship beyond it. 

Let the young probationer remember that 
habit soon crystallizes into character, and let 
him therefore form good habits that will 
harden into a strong, noble character; let 
him, in the earliest days of his probationary 
period, ask himself: "What kind of a Chris- 
tian should I aim to be? a worker or an 
idler? a witness or a silent, dumb member? 
one rich in spiritual life, or one living at a 
poor, dying rate?" Six months will gen- 
erally fix the traits of a Church member for 
a lifetime. If during his probation he does 
not learn to bear testimony, it is more than 
likely that his tongue will cleave to the roof 



Zbc iporcb of probation. 65 



of his mouth for the rest of his days. If 
he does not open his little purse then, he will 
be likely not to draw on his big bank ac- 
count later for the help of the gospel. Those 
six months are great with destiny. What 
he will be in the Church at the end of forty 
years shows itself in those early days. Let 
him set his ideals high, and press onward and 
upward to realize them. 

We are not to forget that the probationer 
has all the important privileges of the full 
member. He can enjoy all the benefits of 
every service in the Church; he can render 
his testimony and offer his prayer, and both 
these things he should do. All that Chris- 
tian fellowship offers to the member, in the 
same measure it extends to the probationer. 

There are only three rights which the 
member possesses above the probationer: 
His name is written upon the roll of mem- 
bership; he can vote in an election of the 
Church, an event, however, which is rare; 



66 



®uv Gburcb< 



and he can not be put out of Church mem- 
bership, against his will, except by trial. For 
these rights of membership the probationer 
must wait six months, to show himself 
worthy of them. 

It has sometimes been said that "the 
Methodists make their converts wait out of 
doors in the cold for six months before they 
open the Church to them." The illustration 
is not correct. On the contrary, they open 
the door, and give to the new convert a 
hearty welcome, and make room for him in 
the chimney-corner, close to the fire, until 
such a time as he shall be ready for adoption 
into the family. 

At the close of the probationary period 
the names of those on trial are canvassed 
by the pastor and class-leaders, or in the 
presence of the Official Board. Those that 
are deemed worthy of full membership are 
approved, and are notified to be present on 
the day of reception; those that are doubtful 



vibe potcb of probation* 67 



are left upon probation: and those that are 
unfit to be in the Church are quietly dropped 
from the roll of probationers. Thus the 
Church-register is kept free at the outset 
from unworthy names, and some are kept 
out whom it might be desirable yet difficult 
to remove when once admitted. 

We see, then, that among the benefits of 
the probationary system are these: It 
enables the Church to take advantage of the 
convert's early enthusiasm for Christ, and 
to bring him at once into association with 
God's people; it gives the young Christian 
the opportunity of careful preparation for 
the vows of membership, not outside of but 
under the Church's care ; it prevents the ac- 
cumulation upon the roll of the Church of 
those who have a name to live, yet are dead; 
and it brings into the Church, not untrained 
and raw recruits, but disciplined members 
who have shown themselves fit for the fel- 
lowship of God's people. 



VIII. 



THE WITNESS OP THE SPIRIT. 

In that unique and fascinating work, the 
Journal of John Wesley, under date of 
Wednesday, May 24, 1738, a day that might 
well be celebrated as the birthday of Method- 
ism, occurs this entry: 

"In the evening I went very unwillingly 
to a Society in Aldersgate Street, where one 
was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle 
to the Eomans. About a quarter before 
nine, while he was describing the change 
which God works in the heart through faith 
in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed; 
I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, 
for salvation, and an assurance was given me 
that he had taken away my sins, even mine, 
and saved me from the law of sin and death/' 



Gbe newness ot tbe Spirit 69 

To many that may not appear a remark- 
able statement, for in our time such an ex- 
perience as is here narrated is common 
among Christians. We have seen the glow 
upon the countenance of one, kneeling at the 
altar, when the hand of faith grasps Christ, 
and sorrow is turned into joy. We have 
heard the testimonies of those who could tell 
just the day and the hour when the peace 
of God entered into their hearts. 

I was one day with one of the bishops of 
our Church, when we came to a white birch- 
tree, standing by the roadside, clad in its 
snow-white sheen. The bishop stopped in 
front of it, and said: "I love a white birch- 
tree. It is to me always beautiful. But I 
love it most of all because while I was under 
a white birch-tree God spoke peace to my 
soul/ 5 

But widespread as this experience is in our 
time, it was so rare in John Wesley's earlier 
ministry as to be practically unknown, and, 



70 



©uc Cburcb. 



being unknown, was not regarded as a pos- 
sibility. The assertion that the disciple of 
Christ may enjoy the consciousness of for- 
given sin and acceptance with God was re- 
ceived as a new and a strange doctrine, to 
be met with incredulity, with denial, and 
with bitter opposition. 

For at least a century before Wesley's day 
no authority in the Church of England had 
ventured to affirm that a Christian had a 
right to be sure of his salvation. One may 
search shelf after shelf of printed sermons 
by eminent ministers in the first half of the 
eighteenth century without finding a soli- 
tary allusion to religion as an experience in 
the heart. 

How did John Wesley come to the knowl- 
edge of this assurance of faith? He had 
been for years a seeker after God, but living 
rather as a slave than a son. While on his 
voyage to Georgia, to which Colony he went 
as a missionary in 1735, his ship was over- 



Gbe mitnces of tbe Spirtt. 71 



taken by a storm, in which, every passenger 
looked for immediate death. Wesle)" felt 
that he was unfit to die, because he was un- 
willing; but he found on board a company 
of Germans from Moravia, the followers of 
a Count Zinzendorf, whose calmness and 
peace amazed him; and after the storm, in 
conversation with them, he learned for the 
first time what the peace of God and the 
witness of the Spirit meant. From that day 
he sought it as an experience, but not until 
two years and a half later, after his return 
to England, under the teaching of Peter 
Bohler, a Moravian minister in London, did 
he find it as his own conscious possession. 

Before Wesley had entered upon this ex- 
perience he had for months been preaching 
it as the privilege of believers in Christ. But 
from the hour when he felt the new life 
within his own soul his preaching possessed 
a new power. He made this the principal 
theme of his discourses, argued it from 



72 



©ur Cburcb* 



Scripture, and illustrated it from his own 
experience. His preaching was received with 
bitter opposition, and his experience was re- 
garded with contempt. Pulpit after pulpit 
in his own Church was closed against him, 
he was attacked from all quarters, and his 
bishop was again and again called upon to 
silence him. 

But everywhere and all the time there was 
an eager desire on the part of the people 
to hear this new gospel. Wherever Wesley 
preached great multitudes gathered to listen, 
and a band of believers grew up around him 
who accepted his teachings and enjoyed this 
inward life. In derision, these people were 
called Methodists. The name bestowed in 
contempt was accepted in meekness, for it 
fitly expressed the principle of the new So- 
ciety that of living by rule, and the name 
is now borne as a badge of honor by more 
people than constitute any other body of 
Christians established by one man. 



Gbe Witness of tbe Spirit 



^8 



If among the doctrines of our Church 
there is one more prominent than the others, 
one which is our peculiar inheritance from 
the founders of our Church, one which 
through a century and a half our Church 
has proclaimed with greater emphasis than 
any other, it is the doctrine of "the witness 
of the Spirit/' 

John Wesley did not originate this doc- 
trine. It shines in every page of St. Paul's 
Epistles, and breathes in the writings of St. 
John. It radiates from the early Christian 
fathers. Through the Dark Ages it illumines 
the songs of Bernard and the prayers of 
Thomas a Kempis. But in the strifes that fol- 
lowed the Eeformation, when dogma was 
made more prominent than experience, it was 
almost forgotten. A few small bodies of 
Christians, like the Moravians, kept the truth 
alive, as a seed destined to bear fruit in 
other generations. From the Moravians 
J ohn Wesley received it, and through Wesley 



74 



©ur Gburcb* 



and the Church which he founded it has 
been proclaimed throughout the world. Now 
it is the heritage of the children of God 
under every name. 

Let us never forget that the doctrine — 
and more than the doctrine, the personal 
experience — of the witness of the Spirit is, 
as Luther said of its closely-related doctrine, 
that of justification by faith, "the article of 
a standing or a falling Church." Every one 
of us should know of a surety that he has 
passed from death unto life. 

There are three tokens by which one may 
test his own experience for evidence that 
this divine change has been wrought in him : 
there will be an outward change in conduct, 
so far as it may be needed; there will be 
the fruits of the Spirit in character, such 
fruits as are enumerated by St. Paul in his 
Epistle to the Galatians (Gal. v, 22, 23); and 
underneath all, and crowning all, there will 
be the direct testimony stamped by the 



Gbe TOUtness ot tbe Spirit 



75 



Spirit of God upon the consciousness of the 
saved man. All these three evidences should 
unite in a true conversion to Christ, and the 
lack of any one of them may well cause a 
man to ask carefully whether he is or is not 
one of Christ's real followers. 

In the form of this experience there may 
be differences as wide as the individualities 
of men. To one it may break suddenly as 
the lightning from the clouds, while to an- 
other it may grow as gradually as the dawn- 
ing of the day. One may be able to point 
to the very place and the very hour when 
he received the witness, while another may 
not have noted them, so gently and grad- 
ually, as the growth of months, did the new 
life arise within. One may receive it in 
silence, another with a shout. One may 
struggle for it with wrestlings of soul, tear- 
ing the nature asunder, while another may 
receive it in the instant when his own will 
is submitted to the Divine will. One may 



76 



©ur Gburcb* 



find it a great joy, and another a great peace. 
One may feel like telling all his neighbors 
of his newly-found treasure, while another 
may feel like sitting down alone to meditate 
upon his happiness. 

Let no one be distressed because his ex- 
perience is not like another's; and let no one 
judge another whose experience is unlike his 
own; but let each one for himself seek the 
assurance of his faith, the witness of the 
Spirit; let him test it, not by the testimonies 
of others, but by the Word of life; let him 
bear witness to his own inner consciousness; 
and let him rejoice in it as God's treasure 
intrusted to him. 



IX. 



THE HIGHER LIFE. 

There lived out on the prairie an old 
woman who during a long life had met noth- 
ing but adversity. Her purse had been al- 
ways straitened, her hands were hard and 
bony from incessant toil, and her face was 
seamed with its many cares. In her old age 
she was brought to the East, and at Ocean 
Grove for the first time in her life saw the 
Atlantic Ocean. She stood on the beach as 
if entranced, gazing upon the limitless blue 
with its fringe of rolling surf. Her weather- 
worn cheeks lighted up, her eyes glowed, and 
she said : 

"I am glad to see something there is 
enough of!" That was all, and that was 
eloquent. 

6 77 



78 



Onx Gburcb, 



That sentence illustrates the view which 
we as a Church hold concerning the life in 
Christ, when Jesus said, "Blessed are they 
that do hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness." He did not add, "for they shall go 
on hungering and thirsting, and shall never 
be satisfied;" but he did say, "for they shall 
be filled." When Paul wrote, "The very 
God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray 
God your whole spirit, soul, and body be pre- 
served blameless unto the coming of the 
Lord J esus Christ," he meant it and believed 
it. When John wrote, "The blood of Jesus 
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin," 
the words were not written as a rhetorical 
finish, but as the statement of the beli ever's 
privilege. 

The soul that has sought Christ and has 
submitted to his will enters into a new re- 
lation, and at the same time undergoes a 
great change. The new relation, in the lan- 
guage of St. Paul, is "justification," or "en- 



79 



rightenment." He is set right in his relation 
to God's law; his sins are forgiven, and he 
is reconciled with God through Christ. The 
great change is that called "sanctification," 
or the being set apart for God, the new char- 
acter which he bears, as transformed into the 
likeness of Christ. A new life is implanted 
within him, through which he can do God's 
will as he could not do it before the Divine 
power was imparted. It may become "entire 
sanctification," not because he may be per- 
fect in his character, but because his entire 
being, embracing body, soul, and spirit, may 
be brought under the dominion of Jesus 
Christ. 

In the development of this completeness 
of Christian character there are often dis- 
tinct stages, or states, or levels. To some 
believers the boundary-line is distinctly 
marked, and the disciple passes at a definite 
moment from one stage to the other; to 
others the progress is so gradual that the 



80 



©ut Cburcb. 



steps of ascent are scarcely noticed. It is 
as when one climbs the Eocky Mountains. 
If he comes from the Pacific side, he mounts 
a series of precipices, scaling height after 
height, and from the summit can see the 
lower levels. If he ascends from the west, 
he begins at the Missouri Eiver, and rises 
so gradually as not to know where the prairie 
has ended and the mountain begun. But, 
though coming by different paths and 
through varied experiences, the two disciples 
may clasp hands upon the mountain summit. 

These two stages of Christian living are 
the realm of duty and the realm of love. 
There is the level of duty, whereon the dis- 
ciple lives in some measure not as a son, but 
as a servant, scourged by his conscience to 
do the things that he ought, but does not 
desire. He turns away from temptation, 
but with a mighty longing in his nature 
after the forbidden pleasure. He reads his 
Bible as a task, not because he finds its pages 



XEbe Ibtaber %ite. 



81 



interesting. He goes to the prayer-meeting 
and the class-meeting and the Church serv- 
ice because his duty calls him thither, but 
oftentimes he would fain be found elsewhere. 
There are worldly delights which call him; 
but he knows that they are siren voices, and, 
like the sailors of old, he shuts his ears and 
will not listen to them. He knows that he 
ought to bear testimony for Christ, and he 
speaks, though his knees tremble, his throat 
chokes, and his lip quivers. He hesitates to 
speak to a soul about salvation; but he knows 
that it may perish if he remains silent, and 
therefore he bears his cross, and utters the 
words which come from an iron will, not 
from a ready heart. As he looks within, he 
can see two natures struggling, the better 
and the worse, and often the worse seems 
to master the better. Sometimes the angry 
word leaps to his lips, and he must after- 
ward sorrow for his passion. 

Yet he knows that he loves his Savior, 



82 



©ur Cburcb. 



and, upon the whole, is happy in his service; 
yes, a thousand times happier than he felt 
himself in the service of sin. There is the 
same old warfare within, the worse and the 
better fighting for mastery; but now in each 
struggle he wins a victory. There are times 
when his joy in the Lord is abundant, and 
never for one moment does his will swerve 
from the purpose to live for God. The tides 
of his feeling roll up and down by turns; now 
ardent, mounting toward God, then reced- 
ing toward the world, leaving dry and sandy 
wastes. 

Let not this disciple despond. God knows 
his determination to do the Divine will. God 
honors it, and God will reward it. Not one 
aspiration of his heart is in vain. His eyes 
shall yet behold the King in his beauty, and 
for him there is a seat at the marriage sup- 
per of the Lamb. 

There is, however, "a higher life" for this 
struggling follower of Christ. It is the life 



SB 



where duty is done, but done from the mo- 
tive of love; where duty, though done, is 
lost in love. In this higher life the disciple 
is no more a servant, but a son; for God has 
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into his 
heart. The transformation from servitude 
(even though it be serving the King) into 
sonship may come gradually, or it may break 
like a revelation in some moment of high 
consecration; and only God knows in which 
way to send it. But when it comes, the old 
struggle within the man of God ceases, and 
peace dwells in the nature. 

He now turns from temptation with his 
whole heart, and with no desire to taste the 
forbidden fruit. He reads and studies his 
Bible with relish, for he finds in it a message 
from One whom his soul loves. He attends 
the gatherings of God's people, not under 
the compulsion of duty, but because he loves 
the brotherhood, enjoys the fellowship of 
God's people, and finds his Lord among them. 



84 



Qm Gburcb, 



He gives his testimony because his heart is 
full and his lips are eager to tell of God's 
grace. He speaks to men in behalf of Christ 
because he loves men as men, just as Christ 
loves them; not because he finds them con- 
genial in their disposition, nor lovable in 
their nature, but because they are men whom 
Christ loves, men to save whom Christ died. 
As he looks conscientiously within he sees 
no longer two warring natures, but one na- 
ture, the new man in Christ ; for the old man 
of sin is cast forth. 

This is the life of thoroughness in Christ's 
service, with single eye and single aim. It 
is the life of joy, for joy comes to the heart 
according to the measure that it is fixed and 
full. It is the life of peace; of peace with 
God, which comes with entire reconciliation; 
and of peace within, which comes when the 
heart is undivided. It is the life of power, 
for the nature is consecrated and concen- 
trated ; all its weight given to Christ, and its 
weakness supplemented, empowered by Di- 



ttbe K>iQbev %ite. 



85 



vine strength. It is a perfect life; not perfect 
in being fre'e from flaws of judgment; not 
perfect in that its possessor never makes 
a mistake ; not perfect in that it comes fully 
up to its inner ideal; not perfect in that 
the flesh is always wholly mastered by the 
Spirit. While we are in the body we must 
share the weaknesses and imperfections of 
the body. But it is perfect, because in in- 
tent and purpose it is wholly given to Christ, 
and, so far as may be, is wholly possessed, 
controlled, directed by his will. 

How may we rise into this higher life? 
By doing every known duty as a faithful, 
loyal servant of Christ; by a constant and 
full consecration, surrendering every element 
of our being to his will; by earnest, repeated 
prayer for the complete acceptance of his 
power. 

What a Church might ours be if each 
of its nearly three million members were 
walking in the fullness of this life, or were 
eagerly, whole-heartedly seeking after it ! 



X. 



THE GENERAL RULES. 

"Have the General Rules been read this 
year?" This is question No. 31 of the 
fourth Quarterly Conference, asked once a 
year by every presiding elder in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, and answered by the 
pastor, almost invariably in the negative, al- 
though paragraph 193, section 4 of the Dis- 
cipline (edition of 1900) names among the 
duties of the pastor or preacher in charge, 
"to read and explain the General Rules at 
least once a year in every congregation." 
Yet, in the face of this strict requirement, 
who of the young people in our Church have 
ever heard the General Rules read by the 
pastor on Sunday, or on any other day, in 
presence of the congregation? 

86 



Cbc ©eneral IRules* 



^7 



As one reads about the General Eules in 
the Discipline and elsewhere he might sup- 
pose that they are almost as sacred as the 
Ten Commandments. The General Confer- 
ence is supreme in our Methodism. It makes 
bishops, and orders them about, and sits in 
judgment on their actions. It can rewrite 
the Discipline pretty much as it pleases ; but 
when the General Conference wishes to alter 
any sentence in these General Eules, it must 
send down its suggestions to all the Annual 
and Lay Electoral Conferences in the Church 
— in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa — 
and obtain a vote of two-thirds of those 
present and voting favorable to the pro- 
posed change, and also a vote of two-thirds 
in the General Conference itself. We might 
assert that, practically, the General Eules are 
unalterable. It is more than a generation 
since one line has been changed in their lan- 
guage, and no one can tell how many genera- 
tions will pass before another syllable shall 
be altered. 



88 



®ur dburcb. 



Yet the young person who reads these 
Eules in the cold light of the twentieth 
century is apt to ask why they should be 
regarded as so all-important. He observes 
that they are written in an antiquated style ; 
that they speak of "the Society" instead of 
"the Church ;" that they do not name among 
the standards any doctrines to be believed; 
that they do not call attention to the inner 
spiritual life, but to external acts and duties; 
that they name as forbidden some wrong 
acts which nobody in respectable society 
nowadays would think of doing, such as 
"fighting," "brawling," "slaveholding, buy- 
ing and selling slaves," etc.; that they con- 
demn in an unsparing manner some things 
that are very common, even among Church 
members, such as "the putting on of gold 
and costly apparel," "laying up treasure on 
earth," "the singing those songs or reading 
those books which do not tend to the knowl- 
edge or love of God," "softness and need- 
less self-indulgence;" that they sound as if 



Gbe (general raules* 



89 



made for another world than our own, with 
their allusions to "buying and selling goods 
that have not paid the duty/' "giving or tak- 
ing things on usury;" that they command 
some things rather unreasonable, as "buying 
one of another, helping each other in busi- 
ness." Must I hunt up the Methodist 
groceryman, a mile away, for oatmeal and 
mackerel, and not buy of the German grocer 
on the next corner? 

Probably every young reader of these 
General Eules has turned from the perusal 
of them with a slight feeling of disappoint- 
ment, perhaps even of vexation. But is not 
such the feeling with which the uninformed 
mind reads the text of most ancient docu- 
ments, as Magna Charta and the Book of 
Leviticus? We need "the historical per- 
spective" for the understanding of most plat- 
forms, confessions of faith, and catechisms 
that were prepared for other days and other 
demands than those of the present. 

The student of Methodist history, who ap- 



90 



©ur Cbutcb. 



preciates the conditions under which those 
Kules were written, more than a century and 
a half ago, who sees in them the handwrit- 
ing of a great man, who takes into his view 
the class of people for whom they were 
originally prepared, reads them with a lively 
interest, and sees in them a deep, abiding 
meaning. They were written by John Wes- 
ley, as the rules for his own "Societies," long 
before any man dreamed that those Societies 
would ever become an independent Church; 
hence the use of the title "United Societies." 
They are a set of definite rules, not of general 
precepts; hence they state, by name, in an 
exceedingly plain fashion, the duties to be 
done and the evils to be avoided. John 
Wesley was by nature a very direct and 
straightforward man, and he wrote precisely 
the things which he wished done, and 
those things not to be done, by those whom 
he received into his classes; for during his 
life Wesley was the absolute ruler of his 



£be ©enerai IRules. 



91 



Society, receiving whom he chose, excluding 
whom he deemed unfit for membership, and 
making his own rules without submitting 
them to the vote of any organized body. 

Moreover, the people for whom these Rules 
were originally written belonged almost 
wholly to what were regarded as the lower 
orders of society, both in England and after- 
ward in America. They were plain, work- 
ing people, earnest in their desire after God, 
but not learned in wordly knowledge. Some 
of them, before their conversion to Christ, 
had been addicted to the lower vices named 
in these Eules, as fighting, quarreling, using 
profane and coarse language. Some of them 
dwelt on the coast of England, and had made 
their living by smuggling, or bringing into 
the country goods that had not paid the duty 
to the Government; for England at that time 
maintained a high protective tariff, as the 
United States does now. Some of the early 
Methodists had been sailors serving on slave- 



92 



©ut Gburcb, 



ships, stealing Negroes in Africa and sell- 
ing them in America. Both smuggling and 
slave-trading were practiced by Christians 
and Church members. Wesley's friend, 
George Whitefield, the most eloquent 
preacher of his age, at one time held slaves; 
but Wesley, far in advance of his age, de- 
clared slavery to be "the sum of all vil- 
lainies/' and declared also that no seller of 
men and women could belong to his Society. 

There was in those days a good reason 
for the rule of "helping each other in busi- 
ness, buying of each other/' etc.; for many 
of the early Methodists suffered persecution 
for their opinions. They were discharged 
from employment, their shops were "boy- 
cotted/' and they were attacked by roughs, 
often with the connivance of magistrates and 
of clergymen. For this reason Wesley urged 
his followers to help each other in obtain- 
ing employment, and to buy at the stores 
of their fellow-members. 



Zbc ©enetal IRules, 93 



Any one who reads these rules with a 
knowledge of Methodist history no longer 
looks upon them as antiquated lumber, but 
is touched with a tender feeling. He feels 
toward them somewhat as a New Englander 
feels toward that compact drawn up in the 
cabin of the Mayflower by the Pilgrim 
fathers. Every Eule, to him who reads it 
aright, has its story to tell of changed hearts, 
of transformed lives, of characters molded 
after the likeness of Christ, of self-denials 
and sufferings endured "in his name." 

The early Methodists practiced and en- 
forced plainness of dress. They kept the 
Eule with regard to "the wearing of gold and 
costly apparel*'" literally, and they allowed 
none to "attend class" — when class attend- 
ance was the test of membership — who wore 
jewelry or ornaments. This Eule has been 
allowed to lapse into neglect, yet its under- 
lying principle, that dress should be modest, 
and not in the extreme of fashion, avoiding 
7 



94 



©ur Gburcb* 



undue expense and show, is a good rule, one 
that should be observed by all disciples of 
Christ. 

We do not interpret the Eule against "sing- 
ing those songs and reading those books 
which do not tend to the knowledge or love 
of God" to be opposed either to secular music 
or to general liaterature; for there may be a 
music which uplifts the soul and a knowledge 
which enlarges the mind without being, in 
name, religious. 

"The letter killeth/' wrote St. Paul of 
certain interpretations of Scripture. We 
are not to read the General Kules of our 
Church literally in every line, but rather to 
seek for the foundations upon which they 
are built. We should read them, not blindly, 
but thoughtfully and intelligently. We 
should seek to enter into their spirit, and we 
should follow them less as regulations than 
as principles of conduct. 



XI. 



THE AETICLES OF EELIGIOK 

There is in the Discipline one series 
of formulas which stands even more solid 
upon its foundation than the General 
Bules, and that is the Articles of Ee- 
ligion of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
The General Eules may be mended, if 
ever two-thirds of the Annual and Lay Elec- 
toral Conferences and two-thirds of the Gen- 
eral Conference can be made to believe that 
they need mending. But no power in the 
Church can alter or amend the twenty-five 
Articles of Beligion, which stand as the open- 
ing paragraphs of the Discipline. Not even 
a unanimous vote of preachers and people 
could change them. They appear to be the 
fundamentals of our faith and the essence 
95 



96 



©ur Gburcb* 



of true doctrine; for every person entering 
our Church must answer affirmatively the 
question, "Do you believe in the doctrines 
of Holy Scripture as set forth in the Articles 
of Eeligion of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church?" 

From the prominence given to these state- 
ments, standing as they do at the begin- 
ning of the Book of Discipline, unalterable, 
and demanding the acceptance of every mem- 
ber, it might be reasonably inferred that 
they contain the essentials of our creed, and 
especially those elements of our belief 
wherein our Church differs from other 
Churches. But as we read carefully these 
Articles, we find in them nothing about the 
universality of the redemption wrought by 
Christ, nothing about man^s freedom of will 
in his own salvation, nothing about the wit- 
ness of the Spirit, or the inner life, or en- 
tire sanctification. All those views which 
Methodism holds as its peculiar heritage 



XLbc articles of TRcltfltom 97 



seem to be omitted from this great con- 
fession of our faith. 

And the Articles, when carefully read, 
state simply what all sensible and godly peo- 
ple of all denominations believe, and have 
always believed, that God is one, and yet of 
three Persons, a statement which we must 
believe without trying to comprehend; that 
Jesus Christ is very God, and also very man; 
that the Holy Spirit is a Person, having the 
traits of God; that the Scriptures contain 
the truth necessary to our salvation; and 
other declarations which no Christian dis- 
putes. In fact, the Articles of Eeligion deal 
with what some would call "dead issues;" 
they state conclusions upon questions that 
have been settled, and, apparently, settled 
forever. They can not be changed; but, in 
point of fact, who would ever wish to 
change them? 

It is, however, a mistake to think that be- 
cause a question has been settled it is there- 



®ut Gburcb. 



fore a "dead issue." It is living still, so 
long as the Church enjoys the fruits of its 
life. The truths, that there is a God, that 
God is One, that Jesus Christ is the Son of 
God, are living truths, and it is the highest 
wisdom to have these and other cardinal 
truths asserted, written down, placed in en- 
during form, and held as Articles of a living 
faith. 

Peaceful as those Articles appear in our 
time, the common ground of all believers, 
every one of them has been, in its day, a 
battlefield, and these numbered statements 
are like the marble monuments dotting fields 
like Waterloo and Gettysburg, for they tell 
where in other days the storm of war raged; 
and they tell, too, of priceless benefits won 
for us by those mighty warriors of centuries 
past. On one of these articles we see 
Augustine rallying around him the people 
of God out of a decaying empire; on another 
we see Jerome bringing together the books 



Zbc Srtfclee of TRcligion. 99 



of the Bible and arranging the canon; on 
another stands "Athanasius against the 
world others bring before us Martin 
Luther, and bold John Knox, and clear- 
sighted John Calvin. These Articles are not 
the dry bones of death ; they are the "f aith of 
our f athers, living still." 

Here and there we see in them names 
and epithets left from strifes which were 
fought out long ago. More people know 
from these Articles that "the Pelagians do 
vainly talk" than can tell who the Pelagians 
are or what they talk about. But when we 
recall how sharp those old strifes were, and 
over what apparently small questions they 
often arose, we do not wonder that a toma- 
hawk or two may still be found half -buried 
in these Articles. We wonder, rather, that 
every article does not bristle with the names 
of sects and sectaries, once mighty, but now 
forgotten. 

At first only twenty-four Articles of Ee- 



Lof C. 



100 



©ur Gburcb* 



ligion were selected by John Wesley from 
the thirty-nine articles of the Church of 
England, a platform of principles adopted 
in the age of the information, in the 
sixteenth century. The English article 
which announced the king as head of the 
State and of the Church, and required alle- 
giance to his person, was, of course, 
omitted. 

It is a noteworthy fact, and one of which 
Methodists may justly have a little pride, 
that the Article numbered twenty-three, 
concerning the Eulers of the United 
States of America, was the first official 
statement made by any ecclesiastical body 
recognizing the Government of the United 
States. It was probably written by Bishop 
Asbury, and was inserted in a later edition 
of the Discipline, after the organization of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. As the 
Methodist Episcopal Church began to gain 
members in Canada, in Europe, and else- 



Gbe articles ot TReligion. 101 



where, it was found needful to subjoin a 
footnote expressive of loyal submission to 
every Government under which the Church 
is established. 

Bishop Asbury and the representatives of 
the Church called upon President Washing- 
ton soon after his inauguration, and pre- 
sented to him the loyal greetings of our 
Church in advance of any other denomina- 
tion in the land. The Methodist Episcopal 
Church may call itself, in one sense, the 
oldest Church in America, for its organiza- 
tion was the earliest that recognized the 
new Eepublic. 

If we look in our Articles of Eeligion for 
that which is specifically and technically 
Methodist, we shall look in vain. But we 
do not need to search deeply into them to 
find statements of a true, broad, conserva- 
tive, living, catholic faith. They will bear 
close study from every thoughtful member 
of our Church, and they will reward it. 



XII. 



THE KEQUISITES FOR CHURCH MEM- 
BERSHIP. 

Otje young Christian has passed through 
the stage of a six months' probation, his 
name has been considered and accepted by 
the pastor and the Board, and now he is 
standing before the altar-rail of the church v 
in the presence of the congregation. One 
of the great hours of his lifetime is 
upon him. He is turning away finally from 
the world, and is entering the open door of 
the Church. A few moments more, and he 
will receive the hand-clasp which betokens 
his reception into the mystic communion of 
the body of Christ. In that moment of 
crisis, what are the requirements laid upon 
him? 

102 



•Requisites for Cburcb /foembetsbip, 103 

First of all, it is expected that he shall 
hold to the doctrines or beliefs of the Church 
with which he is now to be united. It is 
true that the Methodist Episcopal Church 
has never laid great stress upon doctrines, 
and has never tied its members closely to a 
denominational creed. All that is absolutely 
required of the new member is that he shall 
believe in the general statement of doctrine 
set forth in the twenty-five Articles of Ee- 
ligion; and we have already seen that these 
Articles state the common belief of evangel- 
ical Christians, which can be accepted by 
any person who accepts the Bible as writ- 
ten by inspired men, and regards Jesus 
Christ as a Divine Being. Compare, or 
rather contrast, these Articles with the hard 
and fast definitions, for example, in the 
Presbyterian Confession of Faith. 

There are, besides these Articles of Ee- 
ligion, as we have observed, certairLdoctrines 
which are peculiar to Methodism, not in the 



104 



@ur Gburcb. 



sense that our Church alone holds to them, 
but that we have always emphasized them 
and made them prominent. These have been 
named as the doctrines of "universal re- 
demption/" "freedom o± the will," "witness 
of the Spirit," and "entire sanctification." 
A person who holds views contrary to those 
expressed in the standards of our Church 
upon any of these questions has really no 
place among us. There is no law forbidding 
his reception into our fellowship, but if his 
belief is positive and aggressive, he will not 
be at home in our Church; and if it be only 
tacit and inactive, he can not be an earnest 
Christian. These are the principles for 
which Methodism stands, upon which it has 
builded, and to these principles we should 
give an intelligent and hearty acceptance. 

The new member is expected to possess, 
not only the faith of the head, but also the 
faith of the heart. He should have a gen- 
uine spiritual life; as it is frequently termed, 



IRequtsttes for Cburcb /flbembersbip. 105 

"a Christian experience;" or, as it is called 
in the Discipline, "saving faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ." He should be one who has 
surrendered himself to do the will of Christ 
in his life, and to look to Christ, and to Christ 
only, for his salvation. His inner conscious- 
ness of acceptance with God may not, in 
every case, be of the brightest, for people 
differ in their spiritual faculties as widely 
as in their mental. But he should have an 
evidence; not only believing in the witness 
of the Spirit as a doctrine, but also possess- 
ing that witness as a fact in his own ex- 
perience. This testimony may not be equally 
strong from all, for all have not the same 
gifts in expression; but each one should be 
able to testify that he has passed from death 
unto life, and that he knows Jesus Christ 
as his Savior. 

The next prerequisite of a member is that 
he shall be in accord with the polity or 
system of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



106 



©ur Gburcb* 



As a Society, the Church must have its plan 
of organization, through which it seeks to 
promote the personal holiness of its mem- 
bers and the conversion of the world to 
Christ. Each Church aims to compass these 
ends in its own way, and the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church has its way clearly defined. 
Every young person who expects to unite 
with the Church should seek to understand 
its general system of government. He may 
not know the difference between the "dis- 
trict steward" and the "recording steward," 
or between the "Official Board" and the 
"Quarterly Conference," but he should know 
that ours is an episcopal Church, and should 
know what kind of an episcopacy ours is. 
He should understand the general lines of 
distinction between the General, Annual, and 
Quarterly Conference; he should have read 
the Book of Discipline, and should possess 
a general idea of its contents, even though 
he might not be able to pass a severe ex- 



•Requisites tor Gburcb tf&embersbip, 107 



amination upon all its paragraphs. With 
the plans and aims of the Church he should 
be in general accord. He may not think that 
the Church is perfect in its machinery, and 
yet may make a good Methodist; but if he 
believes that the entire machine is evil, and 
does more harm than good, it would be wise 
for him to unite with some Church organized 
more to his mind, if he can find one. 

There is also the requisite of character 
and conduct. The Church makes certain de- 
mands with respect to the life of its mem- 
bers. In the language of the Eitual, he is 
required "to forsake the devil and all his 
works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, 
and all sinful desires of the same." Some 
people evidently regard these sentences as 
"glittering generalities," without special 
meaning, except that the Christian should 
live up to the average moral standard of 
society around him. But our Church, by its 
traditions, and also in its enactments, has 



108 



Qm Gburcb* 



interpreted this pledge of the baptismal 
covenant as the renunciation of certain 
specific acts, such as dancing, theater-going, 
card-playing, and all use of intoxicating 
drinks. One of our bishops has justly de- 
nominated these as "the four evils of modern 
society." 

There may be a rigid interpretation of 
these requirements, or there may be a liberal 
interpretation, consistent with Christian 
character ; but whoever deliberately intends 
entirely to ignore the regulation of the 
Church with regard to them, should pause 
before he enters the Church as a member. 
He has no right to enter the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and at the same time to 
continue in these pleasures, which are every- 
where recognized as badges of the world, and 
not of Christ. The difference between our 
Church and other Churches is not in its atti- 
tude toward these evils. Other Churches, 
through their leaders, have spoken as vigor- 



•(Requisites for Cburcb flbembetsbip* 109 

ously against these pleasures as any Meth- 
odist has ever spoken; but they have not 
embodied their opinions into law, as our 
Church has. For reasons that have been 
deemed sufficient, the supreme body in our 
Church has made definite rules against these 
forms of worldly pleasure, and thus far it 
has not seen fit to repeal those rules. That 
the law is broken by many members, or that 
it is not enforced against those who violate 
it, does not alter the case. 

Even though a youth may not agree with 
the conclusions of the law-makers (it is 
barely possible that he has not considered 
thoroughly the arguments for them), it is 
fitting that he should respect those con- 
clusions. And he should consider whether 
the Church will do more for his soul than 
those forbidden pleasures will do. He should 
consider which he can the more wisely afford 
to sacrifice — these pleasures, or the Church; 
and if he accepts the benefits of the Church, 
8 



110 



©uc Gburcb. 



he should also accept the sacrifices which it 
entails, and to renounce all things that ap- 
pear inconsistent with the conduct of one 
who bears the vows of a member of Christ's 
body. 

We name but one more requisite for the 
Church member : He must expect to bear his 
share of the Church's burdens. Those bur- 
dens are of three kinds, thought, work, and 
money. There are the cares of the Church 
to be carried, and every member is expected 
to take an interest in them; the work of the 
Church, through varied agencies, is to be 
done, and every member should help in do- 
ing it; the expenses of the Church are to 
be met, and every member, even the young- 
est, should contribute toward them. On our 
ocean steamers there are cabin passengers 
who have nothing to do except to sit on 
the deck and visit in the parlor ; but on board 
the old ship Zion everybody belongs to the 
crew, and must work his passage. 



TRequtettes for flburcb d&emberebip* ill 

Let every young Christian consider 
thoughtfully the above requirements, five in 
number, and prepare himself for member- 
ship in that great Society whose Head is in 
heaven — the Church of J esus Christ. 



XIII. 



THE CHURCH OFFICIARY. 

The Church of Jesus Christ exists in this 
world for one purpose — to win souls. But 
the winning of souls is not accomplished 
when a number of people have "joined the 
Church." They must be converted, through 
the power of the Holy Spirit, and must be 
built up to completeness of Christian char- 
acter. Not until a soul is ripe for heaven 
has it been fully won to Christ. The train- 
ing of souls is as important as the gathering 
of them into the Church, and it should never 
for one moment be lost to view. 

This work of training and upbuilding re- 
quires some form of organization for mutual 
helpfulness and care; and as an organization 
the Church must have a business side as 
112 



Gbe Gburcb Officiary 113 



well as a spiritual side. The founder of 
Methodism was a consummate man of busi- 
ness as well as a great preacher and a great 
reformer, and a mighty element in the suc- 
cess of Methodism has been its systematic 
organization, initiated by John Wesley, and 
wrought out, since his day, through genera- 
tions of watchful, painstaking attention to 
detail. 

We may speak contemptuously of "the 
machine;" but machinery has transformed 
the world, and makes Europe and America 
different from India and Africa. If the 
movement of machinery were stopped, the 
world would come to a standstill, and would 
soon drop back into the Dark Ages. What 
the Church needs is not fewer wheels, but 
more of the spirit of "the living creature 
within the wheels," as Ezekiel saw in his 
vision. 

The Church must have a pastor, all of 
whose time and ability will be needed for his 



114 



©ur Gburcb, 



preaching and pastoral duties. Hence, he 
must be supported by his congregation; and 
his support involves not only a financial 
plan, but with it officers to carry out the 
plan. The Church must have a place of 
meeting. The building that is fitted for a 
lecture hall or a concert room is not pre- 
cisely adapted to the requirements of a 
Church. The early Christians, it is true, 
met in private houses, and one sect of our 
time, known as Plymouth Brethren, prefers, 
on what it considers Scriptural ground, to 
meet in houses, or halls, and not to own 
buildings for its worship. But for the prac- 
tical working of a Church a building is a 
necessity, and it seems appropriate that the 
house dedicated to the worship of God should 
be more beautiful, as it must be larger, than 
an ordinary dwelling. The possession of 
property brings with it cares and necessities. 
It must be furnished, kept in order, warmed 
in winter, lighted at night, insured against 



115 



fire, and repaired. A board or committee 
of the Church is required for the charge of 
its property interests. 

There are spiritual interests, as well as 
temporal, to be cared for. The pastor needs 
helpers to watch over his flock, to strengthen 
and train the members, to nurture the young 
disciples, to admonish any who may be 
wandering, to visit the sick and to aid the 
needy. 

We find, then, that in a Church which 
fulfills its mission three classes of officers 
are needed — men who shall watch over the 
spiritual life of the members, men who shall 
support and counsel the pastor, and men who 
shall hold and care for the property. In the 
economy or system of Methodism these three 
departments are represented in the leaders, 
the stewards, and the trustees, and these 
three elements together constitute the 
officiary of the local Church. 

The leaders are subpastors, appointed by 



116 



©ur Gburcb* 



the preacher in charge, and it is their work 
to supervise and strengthen the spiritual 
life of the members. Once every Methodist 
was a member of a class, and under the care 
of a leader ; and in the class-meeting, besides 
giving his testimony, he paid his weekly con- 
tribution toward "the support of the gos- 
pel," which was understood to mean the 
salary of the preacher. In most of our 
Churches the class-meeting is now less prom- 
inent that it was in former times; but every 
charge has still its class-leaders. 

The stewards are the pastor's helpers in 
the temporal work as the leaders are in the 
spiritual. The finances enter largely into 
their work, for they are expected to see that 
the pastor has a support, and that it is paid 
regularly; that the presiding elder and the 
bishop receive their allowance; and that the 
poor and distressed members of the Church 
are aided. They are also required to in- 
form the pastor of any who are sick and need 



JLbc Cburcb ©IBctatE. 



117 



attention, and of any who are disorderly, and 
should be called to account. They are di- 
rected in the Discipline "to tell the min- 
isters of what they think wrong in them" — 
one of those direct sentences showing the 
handwriting of John Wesley. Together, the 
stewards constitute the pastor's cabinet con- 
cerning the work of the Church. At their 
meeting the pastor is always chairman. 

The trustees have charge of the Church 
property. They are its owners, but only in 
trust for the Methodist Episcopal Church; 
for they can not sell it (even to build an- 
other church) without consent of the Annual 
Conference; they can not transform it into 
a church of any other organization; and they 
can not shut out of its pulpit a pastor regu- 
larly appointed. The trustees are to see that 
its debts are provided for; that it is kept in 
repair, warmed, and lighted. Whatever bills 
belong to the Church property are to be met 



118 



©ur Cburcb. 



by the trustees, while those connected with 
the pastoral support go to the stewards. 

These three classes of officials are not 
chosen in the same way. The preacher in 
charge appoints all the leaders, and can 
change them at will, for they are his as- 
sistant pastors. The stewards are elected 
by the Quarterly Conference, once in each 
year; but the preacher in charge has the 
right of nomination. The trustees, in most 
States, are elected by the congregation, ac- 
cording to the State laws; but where they 
are not thus provided for, are chosen by the 
Quarterly Conference in the same manner 
as the stewards. 

Each of these boards may meet separately 
for its own business, or all may be united as 
"the Official Board," where all the business 
of the Church is transacted, with the pastor 
as chairman; though in that case the trus- 
tees may still have a separate meeting for 



Zhc Cburcb Officiary 119 



matters pertaining to the property. When 
the Official Board is duly organized, it con- 
sists not only of the leaders, stewards, and 
trustees, but also of the licensed exhorters, 
local preachers, the Sunday-school superin- 
tendent, and the president of the Epworth 
League. 

Once in three months the presiding elder 
holds his visitation, and then the Official 
Board becomes a Quarterly Conference, with 
the presiding elder in the chair, and the 
meeting is vested with an authority above 
that of any other assemblage in the local 
Church. At the Quarterly Conference a 
series of questions, all set down in the Dis- 
cipline, brings every department of the 
Church work in review. 

Every young Methodist hears from the 
pulpit announcement of "leaders' meetings/' 
"stewards' meetings," "trustees' meetings," 
"Officials Board meetings," "Quarterly Con- 
ference meetings," but few who are outside 



120 



©ur Gburcb* 



of these boards, and not all who are in them, 
know just the distinctions between them. 
Every member of the Church should seek 
to understand just what is meant by each 
official title and just what is done by each 
board. 



XIV. 



THE CLASS-MEETING, 

Like most great institutions, the Meth- 
odist class-meeting was a growth from small 
and seemingly accidental beginnings. When 
the Eev. John Wesley began to preach his 
gospel it was new to England, though as 
old as the early Church ; and his teachings 
awakened the deepest and the widest inter- 
est. Multitudes of people came to see Mr. 
Wesley, that they might learn the way of 
salvation. At first he talked and prayed 
with each inquirer; then he met them in 
companies, an evening in one place, and the 
next evening in another, all the members 
in one place meeting together. But as Mr. 
Wesley could not be everywhere at once — 
although he came nearer to that aim than 
any other man of his century — he soon found 
121 



122 



©ur Gburcb. 



it necessary to appoint in each place some 
one to represent him — to lead the meeting, 
to give counsel to those who had assembled, 
and to pray with them. 

The first Society was formed in London 
in 1739, and consisted of sixty members. 
Soon after, another on the same plan was 
established at Bristol, and others followed 
at Bath, Kingswood, and many others places 
in England. As all these groups were under 
the direction of Mr. Wesley, they soon be- 
came known collectively as "The United 
Society," which is the title given to them 
in the General Eules of the Discipline 
(edition of 1900, paragraph 27). 

At first the sole purpose of these meet- 
ings was to promote and to watch over the 
personal holiness of their members ; but soon 
another and important department of work 
was added. On February 15, 1742, Mr. Wes- 
ley met the principal members of his So- 
ciety in Bristol to consult concerning the 



Zbc Glasa^/lbeeting, 128 



payment of a debt on the "meeting-house;" 
for in those days the Methodist house of 
worship was not considered a "church," nor 
even a "chapel," but was called a "'preaching- 
house" or a "meeting-house." In order to 
raise the requisite funds, it was agreed that 
each member should pay every week one 
penny — the equivalent of two cents in our 
currency. For this contribution the Society 
was divided into sections, each section con- 
sisting of about twelve persons, one of whom, 
as the collector, was expected to meet each 
member weekly and receive his penny. At 
first they called upon the members at their 
homes, but soon began holding meetings 
with them; and when the pennies had been 
paid, they sang, and prayed, and talked to- 
gether of the life which all the members 
enjoyed. Beginning with a financial pur- 
pose, the gathering soon became an assembly 
for religious inquiry, having, generally, the 
collector for its leader. 



124 



©ur Gburcb* 



J ohn Wesley was a statesman of the high- 
est ability; and his quick eye saw that here 
was a plan with great possibilities for re- 
ligious training, for supervision, and for the 
solidifying of his Societies, as well as for 
meeting their expenses. From Bristol, the 
method was introduced into the parent So- 
ciety in London, and thence throughout the 
work as it enlarged, until England, and at 
last the English-speaking world, was covered 
with a network of class-meetings. 

There was a time, two generations ago, 
when every Methodist belonged to a class 
and was under the care of a leader. Al- 
though the testimonies were not after the 
order of a confessional, yet the meeting was 
regarded as strictly private, and no outsider 
was allowed to attend for more than two or 
three times without becoming a member. 
The leader was appointed by the "preacher in 
charge," as the pastor was then termed and 
is still termed in the Discipline, and to the 



XLbc Clasass/toeetina. 125 



preacher the leader was responsible. Each 
member when received into the Church was 
assigned to a class, and was supposed either 
to attend its meetings or to be visited at 
home by his leader. The preacher's salary 
was collected through the class, and paid 
over monthly by the leaders at the "leaders 
and stewards' meeting." 

Once in three months a union meeting of 
all the classes in the charge was held, called 
a "love-feast/' and for this meeting tickets 
of admission were issued to the members, 
signed by the leaders, so that none outside 
of "the Society" could be present. Some of 
these old "love-feast tickets" are still pre- 
served as heirlooms in Methodist families, 
whose great-grandmothers received them 
from their leaders. As a token of brotherly 
love, at this meeting plates of bread were 
passed, from which each member took a 
morsel, and bowls of water, from which each 
took a sip. This was not looked upon as a 
9 



126 



©ur Gburcb* 



sacrament, but simply as a sign of mutual 
regard. After the taking of bread and water, 
fervent testimonies were given; and often 
the ardor of the meeting was such that a 
regulation was placed in the Discipline for- 
bidding the love-feast to be held for more 
than an hour and a half. (Paragraph 193, 
section 9.) 

In England and in Canada attendance 
upon the class is still a test of membership; 
but throughout the Methodist Episcopal 
Church it has become a voluntary service, 
and in many places the members are no 
longer assigned to classes, but attend them 
only as they desire. The rule of twelve mem- 
bers to a class is no more observed, and, as 
a result, there are under popular leaders 
classes of a hundred or more members, some- 
times rivaling the prayer-meeting in their 
attendance, while in other places the class- 
meeting is well-nigh a forgotten institution 
and its leadership a lost art. 



Zbc Glasa^ZIBeetina* 127 



Under the circuit system which prevailed 
in the early days the class-meeting was a 
necessity. Then one preacher served for a 
dozen villages, and visited them all in turn, 
perhaps once in four weeks. During the 
interval of his visits the class-leader was a 
sub-pastor, meeting the members every week, 
conducting a service in which all took part, 
and giving to each such encouragement and 
advice as was required. The leader entered 
into personal relation with each member of 
his little flock. He saw them at their homes 
and places of employment as well as in the 
class-meeting. He brought to the attention 
of every member the duty of systematic giv- 
ing, and received his contribution. He 
visited the sick, comforted the troubled, en- 
couraged the feeble in heart; if need was, he 
warned the unruly or backslidden. He was 
the eye, the hand, and the foot of his pastor 
in the supervision of his members. 

One great benefit of the class-meeting is 



128 



©uc Cburcb* 



in the fact that it brings the member face 
to face at regular intervals with himself, and 
calls upon him to tell how it is with his 
soul. This requirement exercises a whole- 
some restraint upon the conduct. Many a 
young man has been kept away from a dance 
on Tuesday night because he knew that on 
Thursday night he must "speak his experi- 
ence" in the class-meeting. Said an eminent 
minister of our Church: "In the early days 
of my religious life more than once the class- 
meeting tied a knot in the rope which kept 
me from slipping away." 

There is not only a restraining but also 
an upbuilding effect in the class-meeting tes- 
timony. We need something more for our 
growth in grace than merely to listen to 
good sermons and to read good books; we 
need to think and to speak of God's work 
in our own hearts. It is not enough for the 
young disciple in a meeting to call for the 
singing of a hymn or to repeat a text of 



Zbc Gia06*/Ifoeetfng* 129 



Scripture. He needs to utter a sentence of 
his own thought out of his own experience. 
One may listen to sermons for a month with 
less benefit to his spiritual nature than may 
come as the reflex influence upon himself 
of a single testimony. This was one great 
power in the old-fashioned class-meeting. 
It was not perfect, and many defects might 
be shown in it; but it gave to Methodism a 
generation of Christians who could speak, 
and pray, and exhort with a clearness and 
directness and interest unequaled even by 
people of higher intelligence and larger 
knowledge, but who had missed the training 
of the class-meeting. 

The class-meeting gives to the young 
Christian the fellowship of older and more 
experienced disciples. It is one drawback to 
the "young people's meeting" that in it the 
young follower of Christ, just entering the 
way and forming his ideals, listens only to 
the testimonies of those who are young, like 



130 



©ur (Jburcb. 



himself. He needs, also, the benefit of a 
class-meeting where old and young meet to- 
gether. Each age needs the other; the one 
to gain knowledge, the other to gain sym- 
pathy. In an ideal Church the old and the 
young, the educated and the illiterate, the 
rich and the poor, the fervent and the calm, 
all meet together, and each type of character 
learns something from all the others. 

Great as have been the gains of our 
Church in wealth, in social position, in gen- 
eral culture, and in Bible knowledge, it is 
doubtful whether we have gained, enough to 
compensate us for the loss in a certain power 
which has resulted from the decline in the 
class-meeting. May we not hope that the 
Epworth League, which is quickening the 
pulse of our young people, may yet revive 
the ancient interest in this time-honored in- 
stitution of our Church? 



XV. 



THE LOCAL PEEACHEE. 

Ouk age is pre-eminently one of Christian 
work by the laity. Laymen take part in pub- 
lic meetings with freedom. They stand in 
the pulpit, conduct religious services, preach 
sermons, and pronounce the benediction. 
Many of the leading evangelists of our time 
have been laymen, as Mr. Moody and Mr. 
Whittle in the recent past, and Dr. Munhall 
and Henry Varley in the present. For years 
there was a successful Baptist minister in 
New York who through the week sold 
poultry in Washington market, and on Sun- 
day preached in his own church. I knew a 
gentleman, for some years president of the 
Produce Exchange in New York, whose ser- 
131 



132 



©lit Cburcb* 



mons were heard with interest in the 
churches of the surburban city where he re- 
sided. 

Very few people know that Methodism was 
the first organization in modern times to 
call forth the abilities of laymen in religious 
work, and especially in preaching the gos- 
pel. When John Wesley licensed his first 
local preacher all the Christianity of Eng- 
land was astonished and shocked. For a 
thousand years all the public exercises of 
religion had been conducted by clergymen. 
No layman had ever prayed in public until 
the Methodist revival, and for a layman to 
expound the Scriptures or preach a sermon 
was an unheard of innovation. 

In 1742, at one time Mr. Wesley, starting 
on a tour of preaching, left his Society at 
the Foundry in London under the tempo- 
rary charge of one of his converts, Thomas 
Maxfield. He was directed to meet with the 
members, pray with them, and "advise 



Zbc local preacber* 133 



them;" but even Mr. Wesley did not deem 
it needful to forbid him from preaching to 
them, for that any layman would take a 
text and preach upon it was unthinkable! 
After a few weeks the startling intelligence 
was borne to Mr. Wesley that Maxfield was 
preaching sermons night after night, and 
with such power that people were actually 
being converted. Mr. Wesley at once stopped 
his tour of evangelistic work and returned 
to London, intending to put an immediate 
end to such dangerous irregularity. 

At his house, adjoining the Foundry, he 
was fortunate in finding that wise woman, 
his mother. She said to him: "John, take 
care what you do with respect to that young 
man, for he is as surely called of God to 
preach as you are. Examine what have been 
the fruits of his preaching, and hear him 
yourself.'' John Wesley had learned by ex- 
perience that it was well to respect his 
mother's counsel, and fortunate indeed was 



134 



©uc Gburcb* 



it for Christianity that he followed it at that 
time ; for if there had been no Thomas Max- 
field, and no John Wesley to authorize his 
preaching, there would have been no Dwight 
L. Moody. 

John Wesley sat and listened to Thomas 
Maxfield's sermon one night. in the Foundry. 
It must have been no easy task for the first 
lay preacher to deliver his discourse under 
the scrutiny of those eyes; but he stood the 
test with such success that Wesley gave him 
authority to preach in all the Societies. It 
was not long before others were found to 
possess the same evidences of a call to 
preach, and in a few years the Methodist 
body contained a large number of lay preach- 
ers, men unordained, and not allowed to ad- 
minister the sacraments, but preaching ser- 
mons, often better than those of the regular 
clergy. 

There was in those time a necessity for 
lay preaching. Few of the clergy in England 



TLbe Xocal preacber* 135 



possessed a genuine spiritual life. Their 
preaching was cold, formal, and powerless. 
The few ordained ministers in the Wesleyan 
movement — not over a half-dozen in all — 
could not meet the demands upon them, and 
were compelled to send out lay preachers 
who were imbued with their own spirit. In 
America the need was even greater than in 
England. There were scarcely any ministers 
of the episcopal order, to which Mr. Wesley 
belonged; and the early Methodists on these 
shores, as Philip Embury in New York, 
Eobert Strawbridge in Maryland, Freeborn 
Garrettson on the Hudson Eiver, and others 
associated with them, did not wait for odina- 
tion, or even for license, for there was no 
prelate in these parts to bestow either. They 
went everywhere preaching a plain gospel 
of salvation by faith in Christ, and a living 
experience of grace. 

In the early times nearly all the Methodist 
preachers in England and all of those in 



136 



©ur Gburcb* 



America were laymen. Mr. Wesley and a 
few others, as Charles Wesley, John Fletcher, 
and Thomas Coke, were entitled to put the 
prefix Eev. to their names; but all the rest 
were plain Mr., even though they had charge 
of circuits and preached every day of their 
lives. Late in life, John Wesley, believing 
himself to be, what he was, in the sight of 
the Head of the Church, a bishop, took the 
bold, but necessary step of setting apart a 
few of his preachers to administer the sacra- 
ments, at first in Scotland, and afterward in 
England. In 1784 he consecrated Dr. 
Thomas Coke, already a clergyman of the 
Church of England, as a bishop — though he 
used the title of "superintendent," which is 
the word "bishop" translated into English — 
and empowered him to ordain ministers in 
America. Through Bishop Coke every Meth- 
odist minister in this land is in the line of 
succession from John Wesley, as truly a 
Church father as St. Paul or St. Peter. 



Gbe local lpreacbet* 137 



Methodism has always recognized two 
classes of ministers — "traveling preachers" 
and "local preachers." The traveling 
preacher is one who gives all his time to the 
work of the ministry, and is a member of 
an Annual Conference. Though he may 
now remain year after year with one Church, 
he is still called a traveling preacher, just 
as he was in the early days when he rode 
a circuit of a dozen or more preaching places. 
The local preacher is one who has received 
license or authority to preach, but is not a 
member of the Annual Conference. He gen- 
erally follows a secular calling, and preaches 
as he may be needed, though sometimes he 
has charge of a Church as a "supply;" that 
is, by appointment of the presiding elder. 

At every Quarterly Conference the presid- 
ing elder asks the question, "Are there any 
recommendations for license to preach ?" If 
in the membership there are any suitable 
persons possessing the three requisites of 



138 



©ur Cburcb* 



"gifts, grace, and usefulness," their names 
are presented by the pastor, and they are 
examined upon the common branches of an 
English education, on their general knowl- 
edge of the Bible, and their understanding of 
the doctrines and usages of our Church. 
They are also asked whether they will ab- 
stain wholly from the use of tobacco. Any 
member of the Quarterly Conference has the 
right to question the candidates if he is not 
satisfied with the results of the examination. 
The candidates are then sent out of the 
room, their fitness for the local preacher's 
license is discussed, and the vote is taken. 
If it is favorable, the candidate receives a 
local preacher's license^ signed by the pre- 
siding elder. This certificate authorizes the 
holder thereof to preach in any Methodist 
church where he may be invited, and is good 
for one year. It must be renewed annually, 
and if it fails of renewal the local preacher 
drops back into the ranks of ordinary mem- 
bership. 



Gbe Local preacbet, 139 



During four years the local preacher is re- 
quired to pursue a course of study, upon 
which he is to be examined by the presiding 
elder, or by some person — generally the pas- 
tor — appointed by him. In England every 
local preacher has regular, though not con- 
stant employment, and preaches at stated 
intervals on the circuit. In America he is 
generally left to his own discretion, and 
preaches as he may be called upon or can 
find opportunity. 

Sometimes it becomes desirable for the 
local preacher to receive ordination, that he 
may baptize, or may assist in the communion 
service, or may conduct the communion 
service in some place where there is no regu- 
lar pastor. After being licensed as a local 
preacher for four years, and being recom- 
mended for deacon's orders by his Quarterly 
Conference or District Conference, being ex- 
amined upon a Course of Study prescribed 
in the Discipline, upon vote of the Annual 



140 



®ur Gburcb* 



Conference he may be ordained a deacon by 
the presiding bishop. After this ordination 
he may baptize and assist in the communion 
service, and is known as a local deacon. And 
after two years in the diaconate, he may be 
ordained an elder through the same process. 
This brings him up to the highest order in 
the ministry, and he is now known as a local 
elder. After ordination he is no longer re- 
quired to have his license renewed, though 
he still belongs to the Quarterly Conference, 
and not to the Annual Conference. 

In the earlier times the local preacher was 
a needed assistant to the ordained minister, 
for he could supply the pulpit while the 
regular pastor or "stationed preacher" was 
at another point on the circuit. In the set- 
tled communities of the Bast, where the old 
circuit system has generally evolved into 
local Churches, each supporting its own pas- 
tor, the local preacher is less a necessity than 
he was formerly. There are in all our cities 



Gbe 3Local ©reacber* 141 



stately Churches which began as missions 
supplied by the free and unpaid services of 
local preachers; and there is still an abun- 
dance of work for earnest men in neglected 
places and in small hamlets where a 
preacher can not be supported. In the new 
West and South the need of a local ministry 
is as great as once it was in the East. 

The local preachers of our Church have 
been an army of volunteers, supplementing 
the regular ministry, and often doing heroic 
labor without fee or reward, carrying on the 
Lord's warfare at their own charges. The 
system inaugurated in our own Church has 
worked its way up to general acceptance in 
other Churches. Among the Baptists are 
many licensed but unordained preachers, and 
the lay readers of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church are practically local preachers. The 
ministry of the laity, once neglected and 
even rejected, is now everywhere recognized 
as an apostolic method of Christian activity. 
10 



XVI. 



THE PREACHER IN CHARGE. 

Every denomination has its own set of 
terms to designate a clergyman in his re- 
lation to the congregation. In a Protestant 
Episcopal Church he is "the rector;" in a 
Scottish Presbyterian Church he is "the min- 
ister;" in a Roman Catholic Church he is 
"the priest;" in a Methodist Episcopal 
Church he is "the preacher in charge;" that 
is, the preacher who is placed in charge of 
the station by a higher authority, for a 
limited time. 

That higher authority is represented by 
the bishop, in whom is vested all the power 
of "fixing the appointments," as that power 
is termed in the Discipline; not of "making 
the appointments," as is often said inac- 
142 



JLbc preacber In Gbatae* 143 



curately. A Congregational, Baptist, or 
Presbyterian Church "calls" its pastor., and 
has the power to make its own terms with 
him, as he has the right to make his own 
terms with the Church. But with us both 
the preacher and the people surrender a por- 
tion of their rights. The one agrees to go 
where he is sent by the bishop, and the other 
party — the people — agrees to receive the man 
whom the bishop shall send. 

It is customary for some Churches, es- 
pecially large and well-to-do Churches, to 
send an invitation to a preacher; that is, to 
name the preacher whom they desire. Their 
choice is often ratified by the bishop, but 
not always. Their will may be overruled, 
another preacher may be sent, and the man 
whom the Church has chosen may be sent 
elsewhere. There are abundant instances 
where a bishop has refused to send, even to 
a wealthy and important Church, the pastor 
whom it has chosen. In that case, both the 



144 



Out Gbutcb* 



preacher and the Church are bound to sub- 
mit for one year to the powers that be. A 
Methodist Church never gives a '"call," and 
a Methodist minister never receives one in 
his own denomination. In our Church it is 
better to use the word "invitation" when we 
are speaking of any proposition from a 
Church looking toward the appointment of 
a pastor. And with the invitation, the words 
"provided the bishop consent" are always to 
be tacitly understood. 

Everybody knows that until recently every 
Methodist minister was appointed to his 
charge for a limited period. In the earliest 
times, before the American Eevolution and 
for some time after it, the preachers changed 
appointments every six months. Gradually 
the term was extended to two years, in 1864 
to three years, in 1888 to five years, and in 
1900 the restriction of time was removed, 
so that now a pastor may remain for any 
number of years with one Church. But his 



XEbe preacber in Gbarge* 145 



appointment is for only one year at a time; 
his term of office ends at the next Confer- 
ence, and if he stays he must be reappointed 
by the bishop. So long as the presiding 
bishop wills, he can be reappointed year after 
year to the same charge; but his reappoint- 
ment is in no sense obligatory, and any year 
he can be removed, if the bishop considers 
a change desirable, either for the Church, 
for the minister, or for the work in general. 

In fact, the bishop can remove the pastor 
at any time. If he believes that there is 
sufficient reason to transfer a minister from 
Maine to Oregon, or from Jacksonville to 
Duluth, in the middle of the Conference 
year, he has the authority to make the 
change. 

While the bishop possesses this autocratic 
power, it is not to be supposed that he will 
use it, except when the good of the cause 
makes a strong hand necessary. The bishop 
has every reason for making the best possi- 



146 



©ur Gbutcb* 



ble disposition of the ministers under his 
care; and he is so removed from relation to 
the Conference as to have no favorites and 
no foes, either among the preachers or the 
Churches. It is probable that by our sys- 
tem the ministers and the Churches are 
fitted together as well, upon the whole, as 
they can be in a world where few things are 
absolutely perfect. Fifteen thousand preach- 
ers are stationed annually, yet not fifteen 
preachers in a year refuse to go to their ap- 
pointments, or fifteen Churches refuse to 
receive their appointed pastors. 

When the preacher has heard his appoint- 
ment read by the bishop, he is expected to go 
to the place announced for him as soon as 
practicable, to preach in his new charge on 
the following Sunday, and to remove to it 
within a fortnight his family with all their be- 
longings. The Discipline requires the new 
charge to pay his moving expenses, but this 
rule is not enforced in all sections of the 



Zbc flJreacber in Charge, 147 



Church. The Church is also expected to have 
a house, or to hire one, for his occupancy, 
and is not allowed to deduct its rent from 
his salary. 

If the preacher in charge is ever in doubt 
how he shall employ his time, a glance at 
the Discipline will show him more than one 
hundred distinct duties to be done, in addi- 
tion to other activities that need no spe- 
cifing. He knows that he is to preach twice 
or thrice each Sunday, to conduct the weekly 
prayer-meeting, and to visit his flock from 
house to house. These duties and the prep- 
aration for some of them will keep him from 
idleness. But the Discipline calls upon him 
also to take up at least eight benevolent con- 
tributions through the year, besides the as- 
sessments for the support of the bishops and 
the presiding elder; to preside at the meet- 
ings of his Official Board and his Sunday- 
school Board; to keep correctly the Church 
record, with all its detail of members received 



148 



©ut Gburcb, 



and dismissed; to prepare annually elaborate 
statistical tables for the Conference Minutes ; 
to organize a young people's society, and to 
keep it alive and working; to hold meetings 
for the religious instruction of the children; 
to circulate Methodist literature; to obtain 
subscribers for all our Church periodicals; 
to keep the subscription list renewed, to col- 
lect the payment from each subscriber, and 
to send it to the Book Concern. Some of 
these latter duties may seem scarcely appro- 
priate to a clergyman; but for every one of 
them, in our economy, a good reason can be 
given. 

Add to all these his duties in the commun- 
ity, as a citizen, and as a fellow-pastor with 
other clergymen, and as a worker, not to say 
a leader, in public affairs; the conventions 
of the Bible Society, the Sunday-school As- 
sociation, the missionary cause, and of many 
other causes, which he is expected to attend; 
the reformatory organizations, including 



Zht preacbet tn Gbarge. 149 



Young Men's Christian Association, Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, with associa- 
tions and unions embracing in their initials 
most of the other letters in the alphabet; the 
sick to be visited, the dead to be buried, the 
mourners to be comforted, the sinners to be 
sought out, the inquirers to be directed, the 
revival meetings to be held, and above all, 
the care of souls from which he is never free. 
It is evident that he is "a preacher in 
charge" indeed. 

He must be at once a student and a man of 
affairs, a preacher and a pastor, an executive 
and a clerk, a man with his feet firmly on the 
earth, his hands reaching out on every side, 
and his head above the stars. 

A minister once told his congregation of 
a remarkable dream. He said that in his 
dream he was pulling a very heavy wagon up 
a very steep hill, and all the members of his 
congregation were helping him, some push- 
ing from behind, some tugging in front. But 



150 



©at Gburcb, 



the hill grew steeper and steeper, while the 
wagon seemed to grow heavier and heavier. 
At last the minister paused from utter weari- 
ness, and, as he rested, looked behind, for 
there seemed to be a suspicious silence around 
the wagon. Not a member was in sight. One 
by one they had left him until he was entirely 
alone with his burden. He looked more 
closely, and then beheld all his congrega- 
tion inside the wagon. They were enjoying 
the ride which he was giving them ! 

Perhaps that is a picture of some Churches 
where the preacher in charge is trying to do 
all the work, and the members are at ease 
in Zion. 



XVII. 



OUE ITIXEBANT PASTOEATE. 

In the middle of the last century, about 
1850, a minister of another denomination 
wrote a book concerning Methodism, entitled 
"The Great Iron Wheel." It was an attack 
upon our system, undertaking to set forth 
its unreasonableness, its tyranny, and its un- 
American methods. He held up to ridicule 
our appointment of pastors by arbitrary 
bishops over Churches having no power of 
choice, and for a period fixed. He compared 
the government of our Church to an iron 
wheel with a toothed rim, which, as it re- 
volved, snatched up preachers and flung 
them down at random upon the Churches. 

To one who looks at our system "in the 
abstract," as the philosophers say, it appears 
151 



152 



©ur Gbutxb* 



strange, impracticable, undemocratic, and al- 
most tyrannical. It may be asked: "Should 
not the people who support the pastor have 
a voice in choosing him? Should not a min- 
ister have a right to go wherever he desires, 
and wherever a congregation desires him?" 
In theory, a bishop, who may live in San 
Francisco, arrives in New York on Wednes- 
day morning, clothed with authority over two 
hundred ministers, and as many Churches; 
knowing almost nothing about either the 
ministers or the Churches; and proceeds to 
take up, and move around, and set down men, 
at his own will. Then at the end of a week, 
the bishop leaves the preachers and their 
people to make the best of their new rela- 
tions, and goes his way to work in the same 
high-handed fashion in Boston or Baltimore. 

That is the impression that a stranger 
from New Zealand or Nova Zembla might 
carry home of Methodist methods, particu- 
larly if he talked with some disappointed 



©ur fltinetant pastorate* 153 



preacher or committee-man. But it would 
by no means be a correct impression. In 
fact, the bishop is a man of mature years, of 
experience in administration, and of pro- 
found love for the Church; and he is placed 
in such a relation to the Conference that he 
has no interests to make him either partial 
to or prejudiced against either a minister or 
a Church. Moreover, he has many opportu- 
nities of obtaining information as to the best 
arrangement of his two hundred ministers, 
and his two hundred Churches. There is a 
"cabinet" to advise him, consisting of the 
presiding elders, who know all the Churches 
and all the men. The preachers are at lib- 
erty to call upon the bishop in the intervals 
between the daily sessions of the Conference, 
and to tell him their needs and their peculiar 
circumstances. The laymen of the Churches 
also call, and state their preferences among 
the preachers. The bishop acts simply as a 
court of final resort, to which the question 



154 



©ur (Jburcb* 



of appointments is referred. Where a satis- 
factory arrangement has been made between 
a minister or a Church, it is generally ratified 
by the bishop. Perhaps half of the Churches 
are contented to retain their pastors for an- 
other year. And in the reckoning, it is gen- 
erally found that the settlement of not more 
than twenty Churches and twenty preachers 
brings difficulty to the appointing power. 

That there are defects in our system, no 
one denies. ISTo machine that deals with men 
and women who have individuality, prej- 
udice, and predilection, can work with the 
precision of a clock. Even clocks get out of 
order ; and they would come to a stop of tener 
if their wheels where like those which 
Ezekiel saw, with the spirit of living creatures 
in them. It is easy to find defects; and much 
easier than it is to remedy them. But admit- 
ting some defects, let us see if the advan- 
tages in our itinerant system do not more 
than compensate us for its disadvantages. 



©ur fltinerant pastorate* 155 



One of these advantages is that under our 
system, at all times, every Church has a min- 
ister, and every effective minister has a 
Church. In other denominations from a 
quarter to a third of the congregations are 
as sheep without shepherds. Often a year, 
and more than a year, is passed in the en- 
deavor to unite upon a new minister. On 
the day when I preached my opening dis- 
course as pastor of our Church in a certain 
town, the pastor of another Church in that 
town gave his farewell sermon. During my 
whole term his Church was vainly trying to 
find a pastor. In the strife that arose a di- 
vision took place, another Church was 
formed, and not until three years had passed 
did the party which held the property "settle" 
a minister. But the quarrel had permanently 
weakened the old Church, which has never 
regained its former position of leadership 
in that community. 

A Methodist Episcopal Church is never 



156 



©ur Gburcb* 



for a day or an hour without a preacher in 
charge. At the instant when "the great 
iron wheel" takes one man up, it drops down 
another, not by accident, but after careful 
selection among all the available ministers 
of the Conference. If the preacher dies dur- 
ing the year, the presiding elder is in charge 
until he or the bishop appoint another 
pastor. In such a system there is a great sav- 
ing of energy. By any other plan, our de- 
nomination would at all times have four or 
five thousand Churches without pastors; by 
our method we have none. 

What is good for the Churches is also 
good for the preachers. Not one of our min- 
isters who, in the judgment of his Confer- 
ence, is fit for a charge, is left without a 
place and a support, unless it be at his own 
request. The preacher may not always be 
satisfied with his place; but it is generally 
better fitted to his abilities than it would 
be if all the preachers and all the Churches 



@uc fltinerant pastorate* 157 



were left to their own affinities ; f or, in that 
case, there would be many misfits and many 
"left-overs," both among preachers and 
Churches. Everywhere, in cities and in 
towns, there are living excellent ministers 
of other denominations who have been 
listening for years for calls that never come. 
I met on a railway train a Congregational 
clergyman of good character and ability who 
in ten years had been a "stated supply" for 
nine Churches, and for one-third of the 
time had been without any charge, with no 
regular support and no home. The anxiety 
and uncertainty of such a life as his no 
Methodist minister knows. 

Another advantage of our system is that 
it gives to one Church the varied abilities 
of many ministers. One may be an eloquent 
preacher, another a devoted pastor, a third, 
an able executive, a fourth, a church-builder, 
a fifth, a debt-raiser. ISTo one among the 
five is perfect, but in their qualities, taken 
11 



158 



©ur Gbutcb, 



together, they embrace a complete, all- 
around pastorate; and the Church will 
gain more by the five than it could have 
gained by any one. 

There is a peculiar unity in our work as 
a Church, a general likeness in our Churches. 
Among other denominations the local 
Church is often molded to the type of its 
pastor. Dr. Boanerges draws around him 
one class of hearers, and Dr. Scholarly an- 
other, and Dr. Practical still another. Two 
Churches of the same denomination in one 
city may hold doctrines and spirit radically 
opposite, to such a degree that their deacons 
can scarcely sit down at the same council. 
But our itinerant pastorate imparts a unity 
of teaching which makes Methodism one, 
whether it be in Massachusetts or in Kansas, 
in a metropolis or in a hamlet. 

The hold of our preachers upon their 
Churches is sometimes all the stronger be- 
cause of the limitations upon the length of 



©ur Itinerant pastorate* 159 



the pastorate. No minister is thoroughly 
satisfactory to all his members. In every 
Church there are some who would like a 
change. If they feel that the pastorate is 
fixed upon them for life, these people are 
sure to be restless, and to agitate for a 
change. To get the minister out may break 
up a Church; to keep him in may cause a di- 
vision. Under the old rule the moderately 
discontented ones were apt to say: "Two or 
three years is not so long. We will wait; 
and meantime we will stand by the preacher, 
and hold the Church together." Many times 
a minister has staid his full term because 
his term was limited, and has left with 
friendly feelings on both sides, when an un- 
limited pastorate would have awakened 
ceaseless strife and bitterness. 

And although the time-limit has been re- 
moved, our present plan of annual appoint- 
ment still keeps our system flexible. The 
Churches that wish a change, and the min- 



160 



©ur Cburcb* 



isters who would like new fields, all change 
at one time in the Conference year, so that 
there are men to choose among, and 
Churches to be accepted. Some one, who 
was not well informed about Methodism, 
once said that the Annual Conference was 
held for the purpose of giving the preachers 
a chance to trade their sermons. It might 
be said with some truth that it is held to en- 
able the Churches to trade their preachers. 

Many ministers in the past hundred 
years have left our Church on account of 
what they considered "the burdens of the 
itinerancy." A few of them have risen to 
prominence in other Churches, as they might 
have risen in their mother Church. But 
many of them have made more frequent 
changes, have met with greater difficulties, 
and endured more hardships than their 
brethren who have remained. I call to mind 
a minister of some note who informed me, 
some vears ago, of his intention to leave 



©ur 3-tfnerate pastorate* 161 



our Church. "No bishop/' said he, "'shall 
tell me where I shall preach, and no iron 
rule shall compel me to leave a Church." 
That minister never afterward staid three 
years in any Clinch, passed through several 
sharp Church quarrels, candidated in vain, 
and has since tried a variety of uncertain 
employments outside of the pastorate. 

No doubt our system has in its possibilities 
of injustice and tyranny. One bishop, with 
the spirit of a pope, has the power to destroy 
its usefulness. But such a bishop has not 
yet appeared, and is not likely to be chosen. 
With kindness and fairness in administra- 
tion, 'as we have a right to expect in Chris- 
tian men ruling over their brethren, our 
plan gives the largest opportunity of selec- 
tion; the best facilities for fitting men to 
places and places to men; a tendency to 
curb inordinate ambition on the part of 
ministers, and to repress undue selfishness 
on the part of Churches; a motive to every 



162 



©ur flburcb* 



preacher for doing his best, and for doing it 
at once; a motive to Churches leading them 
to work with their pastors; and an influence 
toward unity in effort throughout the 
Church in general, which makes it a dis- 
ciplined, organized army for the conquest 
of the world to Christ. 



XVIII. 



THE PRESIDING ELDEE. 

Eyeky Methodist Episcopal Church has 
three pastors, the presiding bishop, who is 
the chief pastor; the presiding elder, who is 
the supervising pastor; and the preacher 
in charge, who is the appointed pastor. 
Each of these holds a part of the pastoral 
relation, and all receive a salary from the 
Church. The presiding elder occupies a 
place midway between the two other pastors. 

To one who knows nothing of the Meth- 
odist ways of working it may seem peculiar 
that once in three months a new minister 
walks into the pulpit and preaches, not by 
invitation, but by right; announcing in ad- 
vance the date of his coming, and requir- 
ing, if he pleases, conformity with his plan; 

163 



164 



®ur Gburcb* 



sitting down with the Official Board, and ask- 
ing all manner of questions, as, "How much 
has been received for the support of the min- 
istry during the quarter? Are the Church 
records properly kept ? Have the General 
Eules been read?" etc. No Churches but 
ours and our sister Methodist Churches, 
have any such official as a presiding elder. 
Let us see who this functionary is, and what 
he does. 

Each Annual Conference is divided into 
several districts, proportionate to the re- 
quirements of the work. Where rail- 
ways are numerous, population is abundant, 
and Churches are not far apart, the district 
may embrace a large number of Churches, 
yet not include much territory, as the New 
York District, one of the most important 
in the Church, having seventy appointments, 
and more property than any other district 
in the Church, yet consisting of a narrow 
strip beside the Hudson Eiver. Then, on the 



Gbe presiding :£R>er, 165 



other hand, a few years ago there was in 
Texas a district eight hundred miles long 
and six hundred miles wide, yet it contained 
only sixteen charges. 

Over this district, large or small, is 
placed a presiding elder. He is appointed 
by the bishop, without the advice or con- 
sent of any other person or assembly. A 
minister may receive an "invitation" to a 
Church, but a presiding elder is never called 
to his district. We heard once of a ballot 
taken among the preachers to nominate a 
presiding elder, but it was noticed at the 
next Conference that the bishop did not 
appoint the man who had received a ma- 
jority of the votes. Often the first informa- 
tion of the choice to a presiding eldership, 
both to the appointee and the Conference, 
comes with the reading of the appointments. 

The presiding elder is appointed for one 
year from the close of the Annual Confer- 
ence, but the next bishop may reappoint 



166 



©ur Gburcb. 



him; and by successive annual reappoint- 
ments he may remain in charge of the same 
district for six years. He may then be ap- 
pointed to another district, where, in the 
same way he may serve six years longer, or 
he may be placed in charge of a Church. A 
few men, possessing peculiar gifts of ad- 
ministration, have remained in the office of 
presiding elder through a series of terms 
upon different districts. Peter Cartwright, 
one of the old pioneers in what is now the 
Middle West, was a presiding elder for nearly 
half a century, but generally two terms, not 
on the same district, form the limit of service. 

At the Annual Conference the most im- 
portant responsibility of the presiding elder 
is in the council, popularly known as "the 
cabinet," though that term is nowhere em- 
ployed in the Discipline. The presiding 
elders form a group with which the bishop 
advises concerning the fixing of the appoint- 
ments. The bishop may take the advice of 



Zbc presiding BIDer, 167 



the cabinet as a whole, or of any member 
in it, or he may obtain advice from with- 
out (it comes generally without the asking), 
or he may construct the plan entirely out of 
his own head, for the bishop has all the 
power in the business. But it is generally 
presumed that the presiding elder has some 
influence, for both the Churches and the 
ministers are officially represented by him. 
During the session of the Conference, and 
for some time before it, the presiding elder 
is quite an important personage, for the 
destiny of many men and many Churches 
may depend upon his judgment. 

During the Conference year the presiding 
elder travels throughout his district. If he is 
a routine man, with no aim except to have 
an easy time and to let others have one also, 
he contents himself with a quarterly visi- 
tation of the charges, and only asks the 
questions laid down on the program of the 
Quarterly Conference. Such elders may 



168 



®ur Cburcb* 



have been once, and the tradition is that 
such there were; but the presiding elder of 
this generation is generally a live man, 
looking after his district, and with all his 
might pushing forward its interests. 

It is his business to see that a Church is 
planted in every new field where one is 
needed and can be maintained. Other de- 
nominations leave their members to take the 
initiative in the starting of new Churches; 
but among us there is a man with a lantern 
looking out for dark places where the gospel 
is needed, and sending men to occupy them. 
It is said that in the Dakotas the presiding 
elders ride on the cowcatcher of the engine, 
in order to arrive early at the new settle- 
ments; but this statement is not generally 
credited. 

Wherever in these new fields a little Church 
can be established, the presiding elder looks 
up the land company, and obtains a corner 
lot. Then he writes to the Church Extension 



Gbe preel&ing Elder* 169 



Society in Philadelphia for a grant and a 
loan upon a church that is to be builded; also 
to the Sunday-school Union in JSTew York for 
a grant of books and lesson helps in a new 
Sunday-school; and also to the Missionary 
Society for help on a preacher's support. 
With the promise of all these he stirs up the 
settlers, starts a Sunday-school and a Church, 
and sends it a "supply preacher;" that is, a 
young man not yet in the Conference, but 
working under the appointment of the pre- 
siding elder. 

With the large and strong Churches on his 
district the presiding elder has less to do 
than with the small and weak ones ; yet even 
with these his work is more important than 
it appears to be. He comes once in each quar- 
ter, preaches, presides at the Quarterly Con- 
ference, and perhaps holds a love-feast. At 
the Quarterly Conference all the officials of 
the local Church are gathered, and the elder 
asks a series of questions, all printed in the 



170 



@ut Gburcb* 



Discipline. (See Paragraph 99, edition of 
1900.) These questions bring up for review 
all the business of the Church, even to the 
inquiry how many copies of Christian Ad- 
vocate are taken, and by whom. Written 
reports are read by the pastor, the superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school, the president 
of the Epworth League, the trustees, the 
local preachers, and the class-leaders. The 
financial statement is presented, showing 
how much has been raised for salaries of bish- 
ops, presiding elder, and pastor; whether the 
salaries are in arrears, and what can be done 
to bring them up; how much has been raised 
for "wornout preachers" and for the general 
benevolent contributions of the Church. 
When the Conference adjourns, its record 
shows precisely the condition of the Church. 

As long as the machinery of the local 
Church moves smoothly, the hand of the pre- 
siding elder is scarcely felt. If the bills are 
paid, the benevolent contributions are raised, 



Ubc presiding BIDer* 171 



the pastor is at peace with his people, and 
the work goes on in a satisfactory way, the 
presiding elder may seem to be in the back- 
ground. But when trouble comes he is at 
the front, and, if need be, with the strong 
hand of authority. If the preacher's salary 
is behindhand, he stirs up the Church; if 
the benevolences are in danger of being neg- 
lected, he brings them to notice; if the pas- 
tor is taken ill or dies suddenly, he is the 
preacher in charge until the pulpit is sup- 
plied. 

Ministers are but men, and they are not 
always wise, nor are they always good. It 
is necessary that there should be some author- 
ity able to take a Church out of the hand of 
an unworthy person. A minister may be ac- 
cused of evil conduct or of disloyal teaching; 
and in such a condition he should not preach 
until his case has been investigated and his 
character cleared. The presiding elder may, 
if necessary, suspend him while such an in- 



172 



©ur Gburcb* 



quiry is in progress. Such a power as this 
requires great discretion in its exercise; but 
there are times (let us be thankful that they 
are rare) when the interests of the Church 
justify and demand it. 

Less than a generation ago one of the most 
prominent ministers in America — not of our 
Church — was on trial for six months in a 
civil court under the gravest of accusations 
touching his moral character. During all the 
trial he preached in his own pulpit, only a 
few squares from the courtroom. There was 
no power to stop his preaching, or, if he had 
been found guilty, to depose him, so long 
as a majority of the congregation were his 
friends. Such a condition could never arise 
in a Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The presiding elder is the balance-wheel 
in the Methodist machine, to correct disturb- 
ances, and to keep the clock in running order. 
He is the connecting link between the local 
and the general Church, holding both to- 



Zbe pressing JEltieu 173 



gether. He is the commodore or admiral of 
the fleet, watching the whole field of engage- 
ment. He is the pastor over the pastors, the 
colonel of the regiment, in which each 
preacher is a captain. 
12 



XIX. 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPACY. 

Ours is an episcopal Church; and if it chose 
to call itself "The Episcopal Church," it 
would have a better right to the title than any 
other denomination; for it was the earliest 
episcopal Church organized in this country, 
and, reckoning together all the branches of 
Methodism, it is about eight times as large 
as any other Protestant episcopal Church 
on this continent. But the men who organ- 
ized our Church as a distinct institution at 
the famous Christmas Conference in 1784, 
gave it the name "Methodist Episcopal," 
meaning thereby that it was, as it still is, the 
Methodist branch in the episcopal family of 
Churches. 

The word "episcopal" is only a slight 
174 



ttbe ilfoetbo&fet Episcopacy 175 



change in the Greek word episcopos, which is 
found in five places in the New Testament; 
namely, Acts xx, 28; Phil, i, 1; 1 Tim. iii, 2; 
Tit. i, 7; 1 Pet. ii, 25. In the first of these 
references it is translated, in the Old Ver- 
sion, "overseers," though the Eevised Version 
gives the rendering there, as in all the other 
places, "bishops." In fact, the word "bishop" 
is only a modern form of the Greek word 
episcopos. An episcopal Church, then, is a 
Church having bishops; and "episcopacy" is 
a government through bishops. As we have 
bishops for our chief pastors and highest of- 
ficers, ours is properly an episcopal Church. 
But the Methodist Episcopacy differs from 
all other forms of government by bishops; 
and a Methodist bishop is unlike any other 
bishop upon the face of the earth. 

The Protestant Episcopalian and the Eo- 
man Catholic believe that there are by Di- 
vine appointment three distinct orders of 
ministers: bishops, priests (or presbyters), 



176 



©ur Gburcb* 



and deacons. "Priest" and "presbyter" are, 
in origin, the same word, meaning "elder." 
As J ohn Milton wrote, " Tresbyter' is but 
'priest' writ large." In our Church we do 
not attach great importance to the question 
of orders in the ministry; but we hold that, 
whatever may be the distinction between 
them, there are but two orders: presbyters, 
or elders, and deacons. We do not use the 
term "priest" on account of its "High 
Church" associations, preferring "presbyter," 
and in our Discipline translating it into the 
English word "elder." According to our doc- 
trine, a bishop does not belong to an order 
above the other clergy, nor does he rule over 
the Church by a Divine authority. He is an 
elder set apart to a certain office, and pos- 
sessing only the authority which the Church 
bestows upon him. 

In accordance with this view, the General 
Conference, which is the lawmaking body in 
our Church, constitutes spme of our bishops 



Zbc jfflbetboDist Episcopacy 177 

"general superintendents," and gives them 
authority, within clearly-defined limits, over 
the whole Church; and it calls others "mis- 
sionary bishops," with jurisdiction limited 
to the districts assigned to them severally, 
whether India or Africa. There are eighteen 
general superintendents : sixteen at this date 
(1902) in active service, and two retired on 
account of age ; and three missionary bishops. 
In this article our reference is to the bishops 
who are general superintendents, and not to 
the missionary bishops. 

Our bishops are elected by the whole 
Church, through its representatives, in Gen- 
eral Conference assembled. In other 
Churches a bishop is chosen by the "diocese," 
which would be equivalent to our Annual 
Conference; and his authority is limited to 
his field; but among us all our bishops col- 
lectively have supervision over the work of 
the entire Church. The delegates from 
India, China, and Africa, no matter what 



178 



©ur Cburcb. 



may be their race, or color, or language, 
have the same voice with those from the 
United States in the election of bishops. 

At the General Conference the question is 
first decided as to how many bishops will be 
needed to take the places of those who have 
died or have been retired, and to provide for 
the enlargement of the work. Often only 
two bishops have been chosen; sometimes 
four or five; and in 1872 eight bishops were 
added. When the day comes for the election, 
there is the deepest interest; but no speeches 
are given in behalf of candidates, and not 
even nominations are made. After prayer 
the ballot is taken in silence, except for the 
calling of the roll; and a vote of two-thirds of 
those present is required for an election. 
When the new bishops have been chosen, a 
day is set for the service of consecra- 
tion; and from that hour the men solemnly 
set apart are bishops for life. 

We are not to suppose, however, that there 



Gbe JBctboMst Episcopacy 179 

have been no candidates and no consulta- 
tions. The most important work of the Gen- 
eral Conference is the election of bishops; 
and for years before the vote is taken, 
throughout the Church, names have been 
canvassed and relative merits weighed. It 
would be almost safe to say that if three 
Methodist preachers pass an hour together 
at any time within six months of an approach- 
ing General Conference, somebody will be 
talked of as a candidate for bishop.' As a 
result of this general discussion the bishops 
are carefully selected; and in more than a 
century, since the beginning of our history 
as a Church, no man chosen for bishop has 
shown himself unworthy of his high trust. 
One man, Wilbur Fisk, declined after elec- 
tion to accept the office; another, Bishop 
Hamline, after four years, resigned it on ac- 
count of impaired health; but no bishop of 
our Church was ever deposed from his po- 
sition for crime or incapacity. 



180 



©ut Gburcb* 



Twice a year the bishops meet in what is 
called "the Bishops' Conference." At the fall 
meeting they divide among themselves the 
Conferences assembling in the spring; and 
in the spring they apportion the Conferences 
meeting in the fall. And from the hour of his 
appointment, for one year, each bishop is in 
charge of all the Conferences to which he has 
been assigned. Thus in the year eighteen 
bishops carve up the whole world among 
themselves, except certain missionary juris- 
dictions, and then go forth to administer it. 
The next year they meet and carve nearly all 
of it again. The exception is that a bishop 
now stays four years in charge of China, 
Korea, and Japan, and another bishop stays 
four years in Europe. But in Europe, one 
year in the quadrennium, another bishop 
takes his place, and he in turn takes Confer- 
ences in the United States. And even in In- 
dia and Malaysia the bishops from America 
send one of their number to preside over the 



Zbc iUietbo&tet JBptecopacg. 181 



Conferences once in each period of four years. 
Twenty-one men manage a Church as wide 
as the world, and sixteen of them change 
their areas of control every year. That is 
quite like the early days when twelve apostles 
went out into all the world, and directed the 
Churches. In the spirit and in the methods 
of its episcopacy, Methodism is in the apos- 
tolical succession. 

The Conferences over which a bishop has 
charge for a year are not often contiguous to 
each other. The bishops do not cut the earth 
into segments, as one would divide an apple 
pie. Generally the neighboring Conferences 
need to meet at the same time, and hence 
must have different bishops. Nor do the 
Conferences have any relation to the bishop's 
residence. His home may be in Minneapolis, 
while his Conferences may begin with Ala- 
bama and extend to Maine via Kansas. 

Once I was seated at a table when a min- 
ister of another denomination said to one of 



182 



©ur Cburcb* 



our bishops, "Bishop Peck, where is your dio- 
cese located?" The bishop, who weighed 
about three hundred and fifty pounds, took 
in a big breath of air, and then said : "For the 
present year I have charge of Florida, North 
and South Carolina, parts of Pennsylvania 
and Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Dakota, 
Idaho, all our German Churches on the Pa- 
cific Slope, and the empire of Japan." My 
Presbyterian friend listened to the list with 
wide-opened eyes, and evidently supposed 
that the bishop was built on a pattern to fit 
the amplitude of his field. 

At the Annual Conference the bishop pre- 
sides; but he is more than a presiding officer. 
He can rule out a motion, without allowing 
appeal from his decision, if he considers it 
contrary to the Constitution of the Church. 
He may take up the business in any order 
that pleases him, because there are certain 
duties of the Conference which must be at- 
tended to at certain times. 



Gbe dlbetboDtet Episcopacy, 183 



But the greatest power of the bishop is in 
fixing the appointments of the preachers. 
He can send any preacher in the Conference 
to any charge that he (the bishop) may 
choose; and the preacher must go, or resign. 
He can send notice to a preacher that he has 
been transferred from his own Conference to 
one three thousand miles distant, and neither 
preacher nor Conference can resist his au- 
thority. He can take the advice of the pre- 
siding elders in the Cabinet with regard to 
stationing the preachers, or he can reject it. 
He can remand every presiding elder in the 
Conference back to the pastorate, and can 
appoint a new set of elders. 

Yet the Methodist preachers do not trem- 
ble as they think of the power which this 
bishop, "clad in a brief authority," can wield 
over them; for they know that he has no rea- 
son to be tyrannical, and has every reason to 
be careful. He must place every man some- 
where; and he desires to place each man 



184 



®ur Gburcb. 



where he can be of the greatest service to the 
Church; and that is the best place for any 
man. No one doubts that the bishop, with all 
the light at his command, will arrange the 
ministers and the appointments better than 
the arrangement would be if each scrambled 
for his own place. 

The bishop, as the appointing power, is re- 
moved from the influence of local jealousies 
and partialities. He has no reason to be any 
one man's friend or another man's enemy. 
He has nothing to gain by opposing one, and 
nothing to lose by favoring another. If he 
were elected by the votes of an Annual Con- 
ference, he would be under some obligation 
to those who had elected him; but, coming as 
the representative of the whole Church, and 
chosen for life, he is independent of all, and 
can afford to be Just toward all. And if the 
bishop at one session of the Conference makes 
a mistake, after only one year another bishop 
will have the opportunity to undo the error. 

There is one authority in the Church above 



Zbe iftetbo&tet Bpiacopacg* 185 

that of the bishops, and to which every bishop 
is responsible. That supreme authority is the 
General Conference, which elects bishops, 
establishes the bounds of their rule, assigns 
their residences, and holds them to strict ac- 
count. In the General Conference a bishop 
presides, but no bishop can vote, nor make 
a speech, unless asked to do so by the Con- 
ference. He can not even answer to an open 
attack upon his conduct, but must sit still. 
The humblest preacher in the Church can 
make complaint to the General Conference 
against any bishop who has seemed to do him 
wrong, and his complaint will be investigated 
by an important committee. By vote of the 
General Conference the bishop can be cen- 
sured, or even deposed, if necessary. But as 
yet deposition or severe censure has never 
been passed upon a bishop in our Church; 
and in fact few serious complaints have been 
made against the administration of any 
bishop. 

A bishop is the only official in the Church 



186 



©ur Cburcb. 



who holds his appointment for life. The term 
of the pastor in any Church may end at the 
Annual Conference; that of the editor and 
the secretary is limited by quadrennial elec- 
tion; but the bishop remains a bishop while 
he lives. Elected by the entire Church, be- 
longing to no Conference or section, with 
nothing above them to awaken ambition, and 
secure in a life position, the bishops have thus 
far shown themselves the loyal servants of 
the Church, faithful to the trust reposed in 
them. 



XX. 



THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 

The Annual Conference is an institution 
peculiar to Methodism. Xo gathering in any 
other denomination is like it. A Methodist 
Conference can not be compared with the 
meeting of a presbytery, or of a classis, or of 
a Convention; for the work it does and the 
interest it excites are both unlike those of 
any other body. 

When it comes, there is a stir in the com- 
munity. For a week the people keep open 
house, and entertain the preachers, who are 
in evidence everywhere. By day and by night 
a crowd seems to be in and around the church 
where the Conference is held. The visiting 
ministers take possession of all the other 
churches, holding anniversaries every even- 

187 



188 



©ur Cburcb* 



ing and preaching in their pulpits on Sun- 
day. The exercises and the accompaniments 
seem to have a peculiar attraction, not only 
to the ministers, but to the laity. From all 
the area of the Conference men will be seen 
getting off trains: some portly, gold-specta- 
cled gentlemen who have left offices and 
counting-rooms, others farmers in heavy 
boots; and all are inquiring for the house 
where "the bishop is putting up." In the Con- 
ference-room a glance around the galleries 
will show the same faces at every session, year 
after year, of men and women who never fail 
in attendance at the Annual Conference. 

A stranger looking down upon a Confer- 
ence for the first time is apt to find the scene 
bewildering. On the platform sits, as pre- 
siding officer, a bishop, who may have come 
halfway across the continent to attend the 
session, and may have landed from his train 
ten minutes before the opening, not knowing 
half a dozen men in the throng before him. 



Gbe Bnnual Conference* 189 



By his side sits the secretary, with three or 
four assistants at hand, and piles of papers 
before him. He quietly prompts the bishop 
with the names of the men who are so con- 
stantly popping up and calling out, "Mr. 
President!" The space in and around the 
altar rail is taken up with a row of tables, at 
which sit the statistical secretary and the 
treasurer, with their assistants, likewise the 
everywhere-present (not to say all-wise) re- 
porters. On the front seats are a number of 
men who seem to be dividing their attention 
between the bishops, the business, and the 
button-holing laymen at their ears. Those 
are the presiding elders, and they are not 
having an idle time. 

In the program things sacred and secular 
seem to jostle each other; questions are taken 
up in a peculiar fashion; speeches on widely 
differing subjects follow in close succession; 
the presiding officer fixes "the order of the 
day" to suit himself ; in the middle of a de- 
13 



190 



®ut Gbutcb* 



bate some one starts a hymn, and everybody 
sings it with a will; and sometimes several 
kinds of business seem to be going on at once. 
Yet there is a definite plan to a Conference 
session, and the apparent confusion is order 
to one who understands it. Let us see what 
are the purposes and plans of the Annual 
Conference : 

The first business for which the Conference 
is held is "the examination of character/' 
Every minister in the Church is brought to 
an annual account as to his character and 
fitness for the work of the ministry. During 
the first century of Methodist Conference ses- 
sions each man went out of the room as his 
name was called, leaving his brethren to dis- 
cuss his character and pass a vote upon it. 
The names are still called in open Conference, 
but the preachers in regular standing are no 
longer expected to retire, and the presiding 
elder answers for each name upon his list 
with the words, "Nothing against him/' if no 



Zbc Bnnual Conference* 191 



charges have been presented. The presiding 
elder's assurance takes the place of a vote, 
except in cases where a doubt has been ex- 
pressed to the elder in advance; and then a 
Committee of Examination is appointed. Be- 
fore the Conference adjourns, every preacher 
who is to receive an appointment must have 
his character approved. If his case has not 
been settled, he must be left without a charge. 
It is a noteworthy fact that every year at 
least seventeen thousand ministers of our 
Church pass the ordeal of this examination 
of character. 

A second important business of the Annual 
Conference is to receive new ministers as 
the work needs re-enforcement. In a Church 
which proposes to find employment for all 
its ministers great care must be exercised 
with regard to both quantity and quality in 
the additions to the force. If too many men 
are received, it will be impossible to place 
all the members; if too few, some Churches 



192 



©ur Gburcb* 



must be left without pastors. In order to 
strike an exact balance between supply and 
demand, it is now customary in the large 
Conferences to ask the presiding elders how 
many men, in their judgment, will be needed; 
then to vote upon the number to be received, 
and then to have a committee on Conference 
qualifications, or some equivalent title, to 
select who among the numerous applicants 
are the most desirable. 

Then, too, the probationary system is uni- 
versal in the reception of ministers. A young 
man is "received on trial," and stays on trial 
for two years, pursuing a course of study, 
each year passing examination, reported on 
by his presiding elder, by the examining 
committee, often by the committee on Con- 
ference qualifications also, and finally by 
vote of the entire Conference. After two 
years of this sifting process he may be "re- 
ceived in full" by the Conference. But his 
probation is not yet over; for he has two 



Zbc Bnnual Conference, 193 



more years of study, of examination, and 
of advancement by vote, until at last he 
passes from "the class of the fourth year" 
into the body of approved and accepted mem- 
bers. All these classes, examinations, and 
reports, with the discussions and votes of 
the Conference upon the young men con- 
cerned, occupy a large part of the Conference 
session. 

The next business of the Conference re- 
lates to the reception of reports and contri- 
butions. The Conference is at once a census- 
office and a bank. Each pastor is required 
to present full and exact statistics of his 
charge, embracing many items. These are 
collected, tabulated, figured up, reported, 
and published by the statistical secretary 
and his assistants. The preacher must make 
no mistakes in his reports or the order of 
their items. What is the effect upon the 
tabulated columns one may imagine when 
the pastor gets mixed the value of his church 



194 



®ur Gburcb* 



property and the number of parsonages, and 
announces that on his charge are 15,000 
parsonages, and that the church property is 
worth one dollar; instead of "church prop- 
erty, $15,000; number of parsonages, 1." 
Also, the pastor brings to the Conference, 
and hands over to the treasurer, all the benev- 
olent contributions of his Church for mis- 
sions, Church Extension, Tract, Bible, Sun- 
day-school, and sundry other enterprises. 
These he must present, or vouchers for them, 
if the money has been already forwarded 
to the several societies. And the funds or 
vouchers given to the Conference treasurer 
must tally exactly with the reports handed 
to the statistical secretary. To keep the ac- 
counts of his Church straight in all these 
financial and statistical items is not easy for 
the preacher who has been trained in a col- 
lege and not in a counting-room. There are 
some men mighty in the pulpit to whom 
the statistics are forever an inscrutable 



Zbc annual Conference. 



195 



mystery; and great anguish do they bring 
to the secretary and the treasurer of the 
Conference. 

The fourth department of Conference 
work, to many at each session the all-impor- 
tant department, is that of "stationing the 
preachers," or "fixing the appointments." 
There is a list of two hundred men, and there 
is a list of two hundred charges. To fit these 
so that they will hold together, even 
for one year, is a work requiring skill and 
practice. And it is wrought by a bishop who, 
when he arrives, does not know one-tenth of 
the men and has not seen one-twentieth of 
the Churches. To aid him in this process, 
which must be finished in less than a week, 
he has the advice of the presiding elders in 
Cabinet session, that of such preachers as he 
may ask or who may proffer their suggestions, 
and the additional counsel of multitudinous 
committees of laymen from the Churches. 
The list is changed from day to day, but 



196 



®ur (Jburcb* 



never officially announced until the last item 
of the Conference business has been com- 
pleted ; and up to the final moment it may be 
revised once more. Bishops have been known 
to make important changes in the scheme of 
appointments only five minutes before the 
reading. Yet the preachers whose fate hangs 
in the balance are, for the most part, happy, 
because they know what they could not know 
in the changes of other Churches; namely, 
that for every man there will be a place 
provided. 

In addition to these Disciplinary duties laid 
upon the Conference there are functions 
which have become so general as to appear 
necessary — such as the reports of committees, 
the anniversaries, and the visits — sometimes 
a visitation indeed — by official representa- 
tives of various enterprises. The Conference 
appoints committees upon many questions. 
These committees meet and prepare resolu- 
tions, and the resolutions are often discussed 



Zbc Bnnual Conference* 197 



vigorously when brought to the Conference 
for adoption. But it must be remembered 
that the Annual Conference can not make 
laws, even for its own field. The lawmaking 
body of the Church is the General Confer- 
ence, and the resolutions of the Annual Con- 
ferense express its sentiments only, without 
the authority of a command either to min- 
isters or to Churches. 

At each session the great connectional so- 
cieties of the Church — Missionary, Church 
Extension, Sunday-school, Education, and 
other organizations — expect to hold public 
meetings, which they call "anniversaries." 
These anniversaries fill the afternoons and 
evenings, as the business sessions occupy 
the mornings of the annual meeting. 

Much time is taken up at the Conference 
session by the visits and addresses of officials. 
The custom has grown up for each of the 
great benevolent societies of the Church to 
send to the Annual Conference a representa- 



198 



®ur Gburcb. 



tive who shall state its work and present its 
claim. To these have been added all the 
editors, college presidents, and other promi- 
nent officers of Church institutions, and 
finally an army of men who are pleading in 
behalf of needy Churches or missions or in- 
stitutions. Some of these visits are useful; 
others are useless; some of the speakers are 
entertaining, others instructive, and still 
others dull. Some of the Conferences pa- 
tiently listen to all the visitors, others assign 
a time-limit of ten minutes; and in some 
Conferences there is a committee which must 
give consent before any except official rep- 
resentatives of the connectional interests 
can address the Conference. Few would like 
to abolish this part of the program; but ev- 
erybody feels that it needs some regulating, 
especially in the larger Conferences, to which 
all the agents flock for opportunities of giv- 
ing addresses. 

The Conference onens at nine o'clock gen- 



Gbe annual Conference. 199 



erally on Wednesday morning. The bishop 
enters the pulpit, calls around him the pre- 
siding elders and an aged minister or two, 
and conducts simple religious exercises. The 
holy communion generally follows, a serv- 
ice full of fervency, with verses sung here 
and there through the exercises in strong 
chorus. Then the elements of the commun- 
ion are removed, and a number of tables 
are brought in for the needs of secretaries 
and reporters. The secretary of the last ses- 
sion comes forward at the request of the 
bishop, and calls the roll of the Conference, 
pausing a moment at the names of any who 
have died during the year. The officers of 
the Conference — secretaries and treasurer — 
are chosen; standing committees are chosen, 
generally on nomination of the presiding el- 
ders; "the bar of the Conference" is fixed, 
within which each member must sit while 
voting, and other preliminary matters are 
arranged. 



200 



©ur Gburcb, 



The work of the Conference opens gener- 
ally with Question 20, "The examination of 
character/' under which the bishop calls upon 
one of the presiding elders, whose district 
happens to be first in alphabetical order. 
"Anything against him?" asks the bishop. 
"Nothing against him," answer three or four 
voices; and then the presiding elder reads 
his report of the district. Afterward the 
names of his preachers are called in the order 
of charges. "Nothing against him/' the 
elder responds to each name, and the 
preacher makes his report of benevolent con- 
tributions. The examination of character, 
varied by the speeches of visiting officials, 
may occupy two morning sessions. 

On Friday morning the bishop calls far- 
ward the young men who have been two years 
"on trial" for membership, and gives them 
an address in the form of a charge. This 
episcopal address has of late risen to promi- 
nence in the program of the Conference. 



Zhc annual Conference, 201 



The election to orders, the reports of the ex- 
amining committees, the reception of mem- 
bers into full connection with the Confer- 
ence, and the advancing of the classes, with 
incidental matters, and more addresses by- 
officials, fill up the Friday and Saturday ses- 
sions. 

On Sunday morning the Conference love- 
feast is held, always a stirring service, with 
many testimonies. At half-past ten the 
bishop preaches and the deacons are ordained. 
In the afternoon another sermon is followed 
by the ordination of elders. Some of the 
bishops now conduct both the ordination serv- 
ices in the afternoon, without a sermon. In 
the evening another preaching service, or the 
missionary anniversary, is held. 

On Monday the business of a large Con- 
ference with many visitors becomes crowded, 
and an afternoon session is held, perhaps an 
evening session also. On this day the reports 
of the committees are received, debated, and 



202 



©ur Gburcb* 



adopted. The smaller Conferences close on 
Monday; the larger are kept busy by "the 
speaking committee" — i. e., the brethren who 
like to make speeches — until Tuesday. 

When the last item on the secretary's table 
has been disposed of, the minutes are read, 
and then over the house,, at this hour gener- 
ally crowded, there is a hush as the bishop 
rises, with the manuscript of "the appoint- 
ments" in his hand. That is a moment of 
feverish excitement to many; for any 
preacher in the body may find himself sent 
by that bishop to a new and strange field. 
The bishop generally offers a short address, 
gives out a hymn, and calls for a prayer 
before reading the list. When he begins his 
reading, one could almost hear a pin drop, so 
deep is the silence. A surprise among the 
announcements will send a little buzz through 
the audience ; and once or twice in a lifetime 
— not oftener — a preacher has been known 
to rise and object to his appointment. But 



Zbc Bnnuai Conference, 



203 



in general the decision is final and is measur- 
ably satisfactory. At the end, "Praise God, 
from whom all blessings flow" resounds from 
the congregation, the bishop bestows the 
benediction, and the Annual Conference is 
ended. 



XXI. 



THE GENERAL CONFERENCE. 

Once in four years there comes a great 
stir throughout the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in every quarter of the globe over 
the meeting of the General Conference. It 
is held in the month of May, on every leap- 
year, which is likewise the year of the Presi- 
dential election. For at least a year in ad- 
vance of its coming it is the subject of gen- 
eral thought, conversation, and discussion. 
At every Annual Conference an election is 
held for delegates to the General Conference; 
and the membership in the body is a coveted 
and prized honor. The subjects that are 
likely to arise, and the reforms to be effected, 
are discussed in the Church papers; and they 
are often debated in the Annual Conferences. 
204 



Zbc General Conference* 205 



And while the official papers preserve a dig- 
nified silence concerning the names of men 
who may be elected to the higher offices of 
the Church, there is a vigorous canvass going 
on throughout the Church over the offices and 
the candidates. 

The Conference convenes in one of the 
largest buildings of one of the most impor- 
tant cities of the Union, as in the Metropol- 
itan Opera House in New York or the Audi- 
torium in Chicago. It opens on the first 
Wednesday of May, and it closes near the 
end of the month. It has a membership of 
about seven hundred and fifty delegates, 
with twice as many visitors and interested 
parties. 

The members of the General Conference 
are of two orders: ministers and laymen. 
Originally all the members were ministers, 
and it was only after a long struggle that lay- 
men were admitted in 1872. Until 1900, not 

more than two laymen could be sent from 
14 



206 



©ur Gburcb. 



one Annual Conference, but in that year the 
two orders were equalized, and now as many 
laymen as ministers are members. The larg- 
est Conferences have from twelve to sixteen 
representatives, the smallest two, one lay- 
man and one minister. 

The ministerial members are elected at 
the Annual Conference preceding the meet- 
ing of the General Conference, on the ratio 
of one delegate for every forty-five members, 
with an additional delegate in case there shall 
be thirty members above the number as a re- 
mainder. That is, a Conference having one 
hundred and twenty members would be en- 
titled to three members — two on the ratio 
of one to forty-five and one additional on ac- 
count of the large fraction of thirty remain- 
ing. But if an Annual Conference is as small 
as twenty members, it is still entitled to one 
ministerial and one lay delegate. The lay 
delegates, of an equal number with the min- 
isters, are chosen at a Lay Conference, held 



Gbe General Conference. 207 



during the session of the Annual Conference, 
and consisting of one delegate elected by each 
Quarterly Conference within the bounds of 
the Annual Conference. 

The bishops preside at the General Confer- 
ence in order of seniority, each a day 
in turn; but they can not take part in 
the debate, except when asked to speak 
(which is not often), nor can they vote, 
nor have they any representation, as they 
are not members of any Annual Conference. 
The bishops make admirable presiding of- 
ficers, especially the older ones; for they know 
all the members from their experience among 
the Annual Conferences; and they know, too, 
all the parliamentary rules, and are a match 
for the sharpest debaters on a point of order. 

There is scarcely any act in the government 
of the Church which the General Conference 
can not do. It is the most autocratic body to 
be found in any Church, uniting in itself the 
executive, the legislative, and judicial func- 



208 



©ur Cbutcb, 



tions ; that is, appointing men to office, mak- 
ing the laws, and acting as a supreme court. 
Except in a few particulars, which are known 
as "the six Eestrictive Kules" (in Paragraph 
67 of the Discipline of 1900), the General 
Conference can, if it chooses, reconstruct 
the whole system of the Church. And if a 
spectator were to judge from the petitions 
brought to its notice, from the propositions 
offered, and from some of the speeches made, 
he might suppose that it was about to take 
to pieces our entire machinery and recon- 
struct it after a new pattern. But upon the 
whole the General Conference is a conserva- 
tive body. The opinions of one section are 
balanced by those of another; and after the 
amendments have been laid on the table and 
the roar of debate has subsided, the Disci- 
pline and the Church emerge from the Gen- 
eral Conference not unlike what they were 
before it met. 

A young minister once made a speech in 



Zbc (Senerai Conference. 209 



his Annual Conference, showing the changes 
that were absolutely necessary to bring Meth- 
odism up to the times. His ideas were rad- 
ical ; and they were set forth with such ability 
that on the next day he was elected a dele- 
gate to the General Conference. But his con- 
stituents looked in vain through the reports 
to read his fiery speeches to the General Con- 
ference in advocacy of the reforms for which 
he had pleaded at home. He proved to be 
a quiet member, taking little part in debate, 
and conservative in his voting. When asked 
afterward why he had not done more in the 
cause of reform, he answered: 

"I found it a serious business to tinker a 
machine as big as ours. Behind me sat dele- 
gates from India, at one side were those from 
Oregon, on the other those from Texas, and 
across the aisle were representatives from 
Sweden. One needs to move slowly in chang- 
ing a system that has its arms around the 
world" 



210 



®ur Cburcb* 



The method of working in the General 
Conference does not promote hasty action. 
Every subject, petition, and proposition must 
be referred to one of the "standing commit- 
tees/' unless it be sufficiently important to 
have a committee especially chosen for its 
consideration. Each standing committee 
consists of one minister and one layman from 
every Annual Conference, so that the com- 
mittee itself consists of two hundred and fifty 
members. Every proposed change in the Dis- 
cipline goes to the committee on Kevisals; 
everything pertaining to the bishops to the 
committee on Episcopacy; matters belonging 
to missions to the committee on Missions, 
and so on. In the committee the subject is 
discussed, and a recommendation is made re- 
garding it to the General Conference. There 
it is again talked over, amended, placed into 
a final form, and at last voted upon. Every 
proposition is sure to be sifted thoroughly 
before it becomes a part of the Church's law. 



Zbc General Conference* 211 



The first business of the General Confer- 
ence is to inspect the work done throughout 
the Church during the four years before its 
session. The minutes of all the Annual Con- 
ferences are examined by a committee, 
and a report is rendered with regard to 
their accuracy and completeness. The work 
of the bishops is reviewed, every complaint 
against them is examined, and any one of 
them may be (though he rarely is) cen- 
sured for maladministration. And if the 
(committee on Episcopacy presents a report 
adverse to a bishop, any member of the Con- 
ference can speak upon it, in favor or against ; 
but the bishop must sit silent; for he has no 
voice in the General Conference. The busi- 
ness and methods of the Book Concern are 
investigated by a committee, and through 
their report by the General Conference. Un- 
til recently every preacher could appeal from 
an adverse verdict of his Annual Conference 
to the General Conference, and have his case 



212 



©ut Gbutcb* 



reviewed; but the appeals grew so numerous 
that some years ago "triers of appeals/' con- 
sisting of members of Conferences adjacent 
to the appellant, were ordered to save the 
time of the General Conference and to avoid 
delay in the final decision. 

The General Conference is the final court 
in the interpretaton of Church law. It gives 
its decisions concerning the meaning of stat- 
utes or the relations of officers in the Church ; 
for example, one General Conference held a 
thorough debate on the precise difference be- 
tween a "general superintendent," or bishop, 
and a "missionary bishop," and on the re- 
lations between the two officers, which had 
been an unsettled question for a number of 
years and had caused, it is said, a slight 
friction between the two classes of bishops. 

The General Conference not only inter- 
prets the laws of the Church; it is the only 
body in the Church with a right to make 
laws. It alone decides what changes are to 



Cbe General Conference* 213 



be made in the Book of Discipline, that 
little volume which seems to stand next to 
the Bible as an authority in our Church; 
though unlike the Bible, it is revised every 
four years. But until the next General Con- 
ference takes the Discipline in hand, every 
member, every preacher, and every bishop 
is expected to conform to its regulations. 
In the Congregational and Baptist denomi- 
nations no council can overrule the will of a 
single Church. Among the Presbyterians, 
the deliverances of the General Assembly 
must be approved by the presbyteries before 
they become law. But a Methodist General 
Conference can enact such laws as it chooses, 
except as limited in the six Bestrictive Bules; 
and those are requirements that nobody 
wishes to alter — such as the "Articles of 
Keligion" and the "General Bules." 

But that which more than its lawmaking 
and lawinterpreting authority makes the 
General Conference a mighty body, is its 



214 



©ur Cburcb* 



elections. It dispenses an amount of patron- 
age greater far than that of any other as- 
sembly on the earth. It elects all the 
bishops, the secretaries of the benevolent 
societies, the editors of the Church period- 
icals, and the publishing agents of the Book 
Concerns. A General Conference has elected 
at one session twenty-eight salaried officials, 
whose aggregate salary was over one hundred 
thousand dollars annually. Besides these 
"General Conference Officers" — a term 
applied to every official chosen by the 
General Conference, whether bishop, ed- 
itor, or secretary — there are boards in 
control of great Church institutions — 
as the Book Committee, which super- 
vises the Book Concerns, with their 
millions of capital; the Missionary Board, 
which expends a million and a half of dol- 
lars every year; the Church Extension, Edu- 
cation, Sunday-school, and other Boards, 
charged with the care of great interests — 



XLbc ©eneral Conference* 215 



all are chosen by the General Conference. 
The appointments and elections which in 
other Churches are dispersed throughout 
the Church, and occur at different times, 
with us are massed in one body, and within 
a few days. As a result, the General Con- 
ference on the eve of the elections becomes 
a boiling caldron of ecclesiastical politics. 
Yet a candid scrutiny of the history will not 
show an instance when the General Confer- 
ence has elected to office a man unworthy 
of his position. 

That there are possible dangers in the ex- 
ercise of such great powers as are held by 
the General Conference can not be denied. 
But it is also evident that by means of this 
strong, supreme body the Church is solidified 
and directed, as it could not be if the powers 
now gathered in the General Conference 
were divided among many Conventions, Con- 
ferences, and Boards. A secretary can shape 
the policy of his society with greater influ- 



216 



©ur Gburcb* 



enee, and can come before a Conference with 
greater weight, because he represents, not a 
Board, but the whole Church. As long as 
the Church is abounding in spiritual life, and 
active in winning souls, the concentration 
of its authority will multiply its influence 
for good. If the Spirit forsakes us, our 
system will become a mere machine, dealing 
death instead of life. Let every member 
seek for that consecration which will main- 
tain "the spirit of life in the midst of the 
wheels." 



CHKONOLOGICAL NOTES ON METH- 
ODISM. 



John Wesley born at Epworth, England, 
June 17, 1703, "old style f in "new style/' 
June 28, 1703. 

Wesley a student at the Charterhouse 
School, London, 1713 to 1720. At Christ 
Church College, Oxford, 1720 to 1725. 

Wesley ordained a deacon in the Church 
of England by Bishop Potter, in the Chapel 
of Christ Church College, Oxford, Septem- 
ber 19, 1725. Ordained a priest by the same 
bishop, September 22, 1728. 

Wesley curate at Epworth and Wroote, as- 
sisting his father, the rector, August, 1727, 
to November, 1729. 

Wesley elected a Fellow of Lincoln Col- 
lege, Oxford, March 17, 1726, but did not 
become a resident Fellow until November 

217 



218 



®ur Gburcb* 



22, 1729. Eemained at Lincoln College until 
October 14, 1735. 

The Oxford Club, named by others "Holy 
Club" and "Methodist Club," established by 
Charles Wesley (then a student at Christ 
(Church College) and others, about 1728. 
John Wesley united with it on coming to 
Oxford as Fellow in 1729, and continued as 
its leading spirit until 1735. 

John Wesley a missionary to Georgia, 1735 
to 1737, with Eev. Charles Wesley and two 
other clergymen, set sail October 14, 1735, 
and landed in Georgia, February 5, 1736. Be- 
rn rain g ; left Georgia, December 2, 1737, and 
landed in England, February 1, 1738. 

John Wesley received the witness of the 
Spirit to his salvation at a meeting in Al- 
dersgate Street, London, May 24, 1738. 

The first Methodist societies organized in 
London and Bristol in 1739. First Method- 
ist chapel built in- Bristol in 1739. The 
Foundry (an old building used many years 
before as a cannon foundry) purchased by 



Chronological IFlotea* 219 



Mr. Wesle}~, and made the Methodist head- 
quarters in London in the end of 1739. 

Thomas Maxfield, Wesley's first lay assist- 
ant and preacher, licensed, 1742. 

The Methodist society in Bristol divided 
into classes, February 15, 1742. Classes or- 
ganized in London, March, 1742. These 
were the earliest "class-meetings." L T p to 
this date each Methodist society met as one 
body. 

The first Methodist Annual Conference 
convened by John Wesley at the Foundry, 
London, June 25, 1744. Six clergymen and 
four lay preachers were present. The Wes- 
leyan Methodist Conference has been held 
annually since that meeting. 

The first Methodist preaching in America 
by Philip Embury in New York and Eobert 
Strawbridge in Maryland in 1766. John 
Street Church in New York, the first Meth- 
odist church in America, dedicated October 
30, 1768, by Philip Embury. 

Eichard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor 



220 



©ur Cburcb* 



sent by John Wesley to take charge of so- 
cieties in America, 1769. In 1774 they re- 
turned to Great Britain, on account of the 
impending American Eevolution. 

Francis Asbury (born August 20, 1745) ap- 
pointed by John Wesley "general assistant 
in America" (i. e., assistant to Mr. Wesley 
in charge of the societies) at the Conference 
in 1771. Asbury landed in Philadelphia, Oc- 
tober 27, 1772. In the minutes of Wesley's 
Conference in 1771, America was reported 
as having three hundred and sixteen mem- 
bers. 

Thomas Eankin appointed by Mr. Wesley 
general assistant and superintendent of 
American societies in 1772. He arrived in 
1773, and, being older than Mr. Asbury, and 
of longer experience in the work as a 
preacher and member of Mr. Wesley's Con- 
ference, he took precedence over Mr. As- 
bury. He remained until the spring of 1778, 
when, on account of the Eevoluticnary War, 



Cbtonologlcal motes* 221 



he returned to England, leaving Mr. Asbury 
in sole control. 

First Methodist Conference in America 
held in Philadelphia, July 14, 1773, by 
Thomas Eankin and Francis Asbury. Ten 
preachers were present, none of them or- 
dained. Membership in the societies, about 
eleven hundred. 

Eev. Dr. Thomas Coke, already a priest 
or presbyter in the Church of England, or- 
dained by John Wesley as "superintendent" 
of his societies in the United States, Septem- 
ber 2, 1784, at Bristol, England. The serv- 
ice for the consecration of a bishop was 
used, but the title "superintendent," having 
the same meaning, was given. Dr. Coke also 
received authority from Mr. Wesley to ordain 
Francis Asbury to the same office. 

Superintendent, or Bishop, Coke, with 
Eev. Eichard Whatcoat and Eev. Thomas 
Vasey (both of whom Mr. Wesley had or- 
dained on September 1, 1784, as deacons, 

15 



222 



®uc Cburcb. 



and on September 2 as elders) landed in New 
York, November 3, 1784. 

"The Christmas Conference" opened at 
Baltimore, in the Lovely Lane Chapel, Fri- 
day, December 34, 1784. At this Conference 
the Methodist Episcopal Church was organ- 
ized. Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury were 
elected "superintendents." The consecra- 
tion of Coke by Wesley was recognized, and 
Francis Asbury was consecrated "superin- 
tendent" by Thomas Coke. Twelve of the 
preachers were ordained, first as deacons, 
afterward as elders. At that time the 
Church included eighteen thousand members 
and one hundred and four itinerant 
preachers. 

The title "bishop," in place of "superin- 
tendent," appeared first in the minutes of the 
Conferences in 1787. 

The corner-stone of Cokesbury College, 
the first educational institution of American 
Methodism, laid by Superintendent, or 



(Jbronoltefcal IFtotea. 22a 



Bishop, Coke at Abingdon, Maryland, June 
5, 1785. The building was destroyed by fire 
December 7, 1795. 

Bishop Coke embarked for Europe, leav- 
ing Bishop Asbury in sole charge of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, June 25, 1787. 

John Wesley preached his last sermon 
February 23, 1791. He died in London on 
March 2, 1791, aged nearly eighty-eight 
years. 

The Book Concern established in Phila- 
delphia by the appointment of Eev. John 
Dickins as "book steward" in 1789. The 
Book Concern was removed to New York in 
1804. The Western Methodist Book Con- 
cern in Cincinnati was authorized by the Gen- 
eral Conference of 1820, with Martin Euter 
as its first Agent. 

The first General Conference of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church held in Baltimore, 
November, 1792, all the ordained elders be- 
ing regarded as members. The General Con- 



224 



®ur Gburcb* 



ferenee has been held quadrennially since. 
The month of meeting was changed from No- 
vember to May in 1800 on account of an epi- 
demic of yellow fever in the previous autumn. 

The first delegated General Conference 
held in New York, May, 1812. Eatio of rep- 
resentation, one delegate for every five mem- 
bers of an Annual Conference. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
organized by a Convention meeting in Louis- 
ville, May, 1845. The first General Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, held in Petersburg, Virginia, May, 
1846. Its first bishops were James 0. An- 
drew and Joshua Soule. 

Laymen first admitted to membership in 
the General Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in May, 1872. At the 
General Conference of 1900 the number of 
lay members was for the first time equal to 
that of the clerical members. 



OUTLINE QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 

I. A FOREWORD TO THE YoUjSTG METHODIST. 

Tell the anecdote of a celebrated statue by 
a Danish sculptor. Can you mention any 
other works by this artist? Any facts con- 
cerning his life ? Any account of this group 
of statuary? 

How does this story of the artist weeping 
before his statue illustrate the relation be- 
tween our real life and our ideal life ? 

What four traits should there be in the 
ideal character for a young Methodist 
Christian ? 

Define each of these four traits. 

Can you name a reason why a Methodist, 
even more than the member of any other 
Church, should seek to understand the sys- 
tem of his own denomination ? 



225 



226 



©ur dburcb* 



II. The Holt Catholic Church. 

Eepeat the sentence in the Apostles' Creed 
with regard to the Church. 

What is meant by "the holy catholic 
Church?" 

How does it differ from "the Eoman Cath- 
olic Church ?" 

Why is the term "catholic" a suitable one 
to use ? 

Why is the Church of Christ called "the 
invisible Church?" 

Wherein are those mistaken who claim 
that their sect is the only true Church of 
Christ? 

What is an "apostolic Church ?" How may 
we know whether any Church is apostolic ? 

Why are different Churches desirable and 
useful ? 

Draw a diagram which will represent "'the 
holy catholic Church" and "the Churches." 
To which part or parts of this diagram does 
the Methodist Episcopal Church belong? 



(auestions for *Revfew. 227 



III. Our Place among the Churches. 

How are the different denominations 
wrongly regarded by many in relation to 
each other and to Christ ? 

Give two illustrations, showing how they 
should be regarded. 

Is external unity — that of one organization 
for all Christians — to be desired or sought 
for? 

What are the three principles underlying 
the different organizations of Churches? 

Name Churches alike in doctrine, but dif- 
fering in method. 

Name Churches alike in doctrine, but dif- 
fering in spirit. 

Name Churches differing in doctrine and 
in method, but alike in spirit. 

What are the two names that represent 
the great division in doctrine between evan- 
gelical Churches ? Wherein lies the distinc- 
tion between these two views? 

Show the three principal forms of Church 



228 



©uc Gburcb* 



government and the differences between 
them. 

Which of these is the Methodist form of 
government? Wherein does it differ from 
that of some other "episcopal" bodies? 

What is meant by "the Methodist spirit ?" 

Name the three traits of Methodism in 
doctrine,, method, and spirit. 

Eepeat a well-known sentence spoken by 
Abraham Lincoln concerning the Churches. 

IV. The Methodist Family. 

Wherein is Methodism old? 
Wherein is it young ? 

What is its age, as an organization, com- 
pared with some other Churches? 

In what year did Methodism begin its his- 
tory as an organization? 

Who were some of the founders of other 
Churches ? 

Wherein do these Churches differ, in their 
relation to their founders, from Methodism ? 



Questions for IRevtew* 229 



How many members of Methodist 
Churches are there ? How many people may 
be reckoned as the spiritual followers of John 
Wesley ? 

What is meant by "the Methodist family 
of Churches?" How many Churches con- 
stitute this family ? 

To what tree might it be compared ? 

Name the principal branches of Method- 
ism, and give the number of members in each 
branch. 

What have caused these divisions? 

What is the relation of these Methodist 
Churches to each other ? 

What great gathering indicates this rela- 
tion? 

State in a sentence the three great princi- 
ples as given by John Wesley. 

V. The Methodist System. 

What is meant by "the connectional 
spirit ?" 



230 



©ur Gbutcb* 



What is the unit in the Church ? 

To what does the individual member be- 
long in the Methodist plan ? 

Why was the class with its leader a ne- 
cessity in earlier Methodism ? 

What is meant by "the charge?" How is 
the charge supervised? 

What is the district; and how is it di- 
rected ? 

What is the Annual Conference and its 
work ? 

Who presides over the Annual Conference ? 

What is the highest ruling body in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church? 

How might our system be represented in a 
diagram ? 

What are some advantages of our system ? 
VI. The Faith of Ouk Fathers. 

When, where, and under what peculiar 
circumstances did John Wesley once preach 
in his native village. 



(Sluestfona for TRevlew. 231 



Why was he not permitted to preach in 
the Church? 

State the first of the four great doctrines 
held by Mr. Wesley and his followers, 

State the second doctrine. 

State the third doctrine. 

State the fourth doctrine. 

Why was the proclamation of these truths 
by J ohn Wesley necessary ? 

In what four statements concerning salva- 
tion, beginning with one letter, may these 
doctrines be expressed? 

Are these doctrines now held by Meth- 
odists only? 

Why, then, may we still call them "'the dis- 
tinctive doctrines of Methodism?" 

VII. The Porch of Probation. 

What is "a member on probation ?" 
How is the probationer "on trial?" 
Wherein is the probationary system pe- 



282 



©ut Gburcb, 



culiar to Methodism? How is it in spirit 
recognized by other Churches? 

What is required as a prerequisite of one 
who joins on probation? 

What is required daring probation? 

Why is the probationary period important 
to the young Christian ? 

What privileges of Church membership 
does the probationer enjoy? 

What rights does the member enjoy which 
are denied to the probationer? 

How does the probationer become a mem- 
ber in full ? 

What are some benefits in the probation- 
ary system ? 

VIII. The Witness oe the Spirit. 

What date might be regarded as the birth- 
day of Methodism? 

What is told by Mr. Wesley concerning 
that day ? 



taxations for "Review, 233 



Wherein was that experience remarkable 
in those times ? 

What events led Mr. Wesley to seek this 
witness of the Spirit ? 

Who led him to the knowledge of it? 

What was the nature and effect of Mr. 
Wesley's preaching as a result of this ex- 
perience ? 

Are this doctrine and this experience older 
than Wesley's time ? 

How may one know that he possesses it? 

What differences in its manifestation may 
appear ? 

IX. The Higher Life. 

Tell the story of an old woman who saw 
the ocean for the first time. 

Name some sentences of Scripture point- 
ing to a fullness in righteousness. 

What is the definition of justification? 

What is sanetification ? 



234 



®uc Cburcb* 



What is entire sanetifieation ? 

What stages of progress may be noted in 
the Christian life? 

Describe the life of duty. 

Describe the higher life of love. 

What are some blessings in this higher 
life? 

How may one enter into it ? 

X. The General Exiles. 

What is the requirement of the Church 
concerning the General Eules ? 

What indicates the importance of these 
Eules in their relation to the Church ? 

What qualities or aspects of these Eules 
are apt to strike many readers unfavorably? 

To what great documents might these 
Eules be compared ? 

By whom, for whom, and under what cir- 
cumstances were these Eules prepared? 

Why were many of these regulations nec- 
essary in the early days of Methodism ? 



(aueations for IReview* 235 



What abiding principles stand under these 
regulations ? 

How should they be read and interpreted? 

XI. The Articles of Eeligion. 

Wherein are the Articles of Eeligion of 
our Church unalterable ? 

What great distinctive doctrines of our 
Church are not mentioned in these articles. 

What doctrines common to all Christians 
do they state? 

Do these Articles contain statements of 
"dead issues ?" 

To what might these Articles be compared, 
and why ? 

What allusions to past strifes and con- 
troversies may be seen in them ? 

How were these Articles prepared? 

What event in the early history of the 
United States is recalled by one of these Ar- 
ticles ? 



236 



Out Gburcb* 



XII. The Bequisites for Church Mem- 
bership. 

Why is the hour of full reception into the 
Church an important time ? 

What in the way of belief or doctrine is 
required of the one who is to be received into 
the Church. 

What faith of the heart is also required? 

What is the requirement with regard to 
our system of government and organization 
as a Church ? 

What is the requirement with respect to 
character and conduct? 

What is the attitude of our Church regard- 
ing certain forms of amusement? Wherein 
is it different from the attitude of other 
Churches ? 

What are the duties of the new member in 
the support of the Church ? 

XIII. The Church Officiary. 
For what purpose does the Church of 
Christ exist in the world? 



duesttons for TRevuew. 



237 



What is included in "the winning of souls" 
to Christ ? 

What is the use of organization in the 
Church ? 

What are some of the necessary expenses 
of the Church? 

For what spiritual interests does the pas- 
tor need helpers ? 

What three classes of officers are found 
in a Methodist Episcopal Church ? 

What are the duties of leaders? 

What are the duties of stewards? 

What are the duties of trustees? 

How are these three classes of officers 
chosen? 

What is the Official Board? 

What is the Quarterly Conference ? 

Who presides at the Quarterly Conference ? 

XIV. The Class-meeting. 

How did the Societies originate, out of 

which Methodism grew? 
16 



238 ®ur Gburcb. 

When and where were these first Societies 
formed ? 

By what name were they at first known ? 

When, where, and under what circum- 
stances was the first division into classes 
made? 

What was the result of this organization 
into classes ? 

What was the nature of the class-meeting, 
as established in early Methodism ? 

What is a love-feast ? 

What changes have taken place in the 
class-meeting system ? 

Why was the class-meeting in former times 
more of a necessity than it is now ? 

What are some benefits in attendance upon 
the class-meeting? 

Wherein is the class-meeting of greater 
benefit than a "young people's meeting ?" 

XV. The Local Preacher. 
Wherein does this age differ from past 
ages in the work of the laity in the Church ? 



<aue5t(on0 for IReview* 239 



What denomination in modern times first 
encouraged the preaching and public speak- 
ing of laymen? 

Who was the first licensed lay preacher? 

When and how did he begin preaching? 

What necessity was there at that time for 
lay preachers? 

Who were some of the earliest lay preach- 
ers in America ? 

How did some of these preachers receive 
ordination ? 

From whom is every Methodist minister's 
ordination derived ? 

What is the difference between "traveling 
preachers" and "local preachers ?" 

What is the process through which a local 
preacher receives license ? 

What is required of a local preacher ? 

How may a local preacher receive ordi- 
nation ? 

What are local deacons and local elders ? 



240 



Qui Gburcb. 



Why were local preachers formerly more 
necessary than they are at present ? 

What equivalent to the local ministry is 
found in other Churches ? 

XVI. The Preacher m Charge. 

What are some of the titles by which a pas- 
tor is called among other Churches? 

What is his title in our Church? What 
does this title mean ? 

What difference exists between Methodism 
and other denominations with regard to the 
choice and appointment of pastors? 

How far may a Church choose its own pas- 
tor in our denomination? 

For how long a period was the preacher in 
early times in charge of one congregation? 

At what times were changes made in the 
length of the pastoral term? 

For how long is a minister appointed over 
a Church? 



Questions for IReview, 241 



What power of changing a minister's ap- 
pointment is possessed by the bishop ? 

Why does the bishop rarely use to the ut- 
most the power intrusted to him ? 

What fact shows that upon the whole the 
Churches and the preachers are contented 
with the present system? 

What is expected of a preacher in his re- 
lation to his new appointment? 

Who is required to pay the moving ex- 
penses of the new pastor ? 

State some of the duties of a preacher in 
charge in relation to his Church. 

What are his duties in relation to other 
Churches and to the community? 

What traits or qualities are needed in a 
successful minister? 

What illustration shows the minister's 
need of assistance from his people ? 

XVII. Our Itinerant Pastorate. 
How was the itinerant system of Method- 
ism illustrated by an unfriendly critic ? 



242 



©ur Gbutcb* 



What impression would our method of sta- 
tioning ministers make upon one unac- 
quainted with its working? 

How does the bishop obtain information 
for the appointment of pastors? 

What great advantage in its pastoral ar- 
rangements has Methodism over other forms 
of Church organization? 

Wherein is the plan also an advantage to 
the ministers, as well as to the Churches ? 

How does the itinerant system give to one 
Church the varied abilities of different min- 
isters ? 

How does the system promote unity in our 
work? 

How does it strengthen, rather than 
weaken, the bond between the pastor and 
his people? 

Are there not possibilities of injustice in 
our system? 

Do they often occur ? 

Why are they not more frequent? 



(Slueetfons for TRetuew. 243 



XVIII. The Presiding Elder. 

How does ever}' Methodist Episcopal 
Church have three pastors? 

Wherein is the office of a presiding elder 
unique ? 

What is the district ? 

Who is in charge of the district, and how 
is he appointed ? 

For how long a term is a presiding elder 
appointed ? 

How often may he be reappointed to the 
same district ? 

What is "the Cabinet?" 

Are the decisions of the bishop controlled 
by the Cabinet ? 

What is the work of the presiding elder 
during the Annual Conference ? 

What is his work through the year ? 

What does the presiding elder do in new 
fields? 

How often does the presiding elder visit 
the Churches on his district ? 



244 



What is his work at the meeting of the 
Quarterly Conference? 

What power does the presiding elder hold 
with respect to the pastor? 

What part in the machinery of a clock 
may represent the presiding elder ? 

XIX. The Methodist Episcopacy. 

W T hy is ours an episcopal Church ? 

Why might it call itself the Episcopal 
Church in this country ? 

When was it organized ? 

What do the words "Methodist Episcopal 
Church" mean? 

From what word is the word "bishop" de- 
rived ? 

What are the three orders in the ministry, 
considered essential by some Churches ? 

What is the meaning of the word "priest V 9 

What word do we prefer for "priest" or 
"presbyter ?" 

What is a bishop, according to Methodist 
view? 



(Sluesttons for *Revtev*\ 245 



What two kinds of bishops are found in 
our Church? 

How are the bishops chosen ? 

What is the bishops' conference ? 

How are the Conferences over which any 
one bishop has jurisdiction arranged? 

What is the authority of a bishop at the 
Annual Conference? 

How long does the bishop hold his office ? 

XX. The Annual Conference. 

Why is the Annual Conference a remark- 
able body ? 

What is the appearance of the Church 
when a Conference is in session ? 

What are some of the purposes for which 
the Annual Conference is held ? 

What is "the examination of character/' 
and how is it conducted ? 

By what process are new members received 
into the Conference? 

Why is the number of ministers to be re- 



246 



©ur Gburcb* 



ceived a more important matter with us than 
with other Churches? 

How are the reports and the contributions 
received at Conference ? 

What part does the Conference take in 
stationing the ministers? Who attends to 
this work? 

What are the reports of committees at the 
Conference ? 

Does the action of an Annual Conference 
have the authority of law in the Church ? 

What interest do the general officials of 
the Church — editors, secretaries, etc. — have 
in the Annual Conference ? 

What is the general order of exercises in 
the session of the Annual Conference? 

XXI. The General Conference. 

How often, and when, is the General Con- 
ference held? 

Who are the members of the General Con- 
ference ? 



Questions for IRevlew. 247 



How are the members chosen? 

What part do the bishops hare in the Gen- 
eral Conference ? 

What authority does the General Confer- 
ence possess ? 

Why is the General Conference generally 
a conservative body ? 

How is the business of the General Confer- 
ence carried on? 

What are the standing committees ? 

What work of review and inspection is 
done by the General Conference? 

Who are "triers of appeals/' and what is 
their work ? 

How does the General Conference act as a 
supreme court ? 

What officers of the Church are elected by 
the General Conference? 

Wherein is the power exercised by the 
General Conference a benefit to the Church? 



a 151 82 i* 






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